


Chasing Shadows

by kimurasato



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-11
Updated: 2014-04-13
Packaged: 2018-01-18 22:34:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 30
Words: 61,509
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1445326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kimurasato/pseuds/kimurasato
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dash catches his first criminal in the act of buying drugs.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I finished this story between 2012 and 2013. The idea for this story sparked my renewed interest in Danny Phantom and got me writing again.

Dash sighed as his partner pulled their car into the lot at a gas station. "Shouldn't have had that extra cup of Joe," Hearst complained while he climbed out of the car. He adjusted his belt around his wide waist before he tossed a "Be a good boy and fill 'er up," over his shoulder. After he slammed the door shut, he shuffled off toward the restroom.

Another sigh escaped him. Dash had expected more out of his partner. So far, the only things that they were called to were a few domestic disturbances, breaking up some frat party at the local college, and there was that one time they caught someone speeding. Needless to say, his career as a cop hadn't exactly been filled with excitement one might expect after watching television shows or the news. They hadn't even stopped a single robbery yet! It wasn't like he was trying to seek the spotlight and gain fame, not like how he did in high school anyway. He just wanted to feel like he was making a difference. At the moment, he didn't feel like anything he did helped anyone.

Dash got out of the car, intent on following the command of a senior officer when something caught his attention. The two men stood around the side of the gas station building, just visible beyond the glow of the lights and certainly out of sight of any security cameras. They both dressed like the average punk kids that he usually saw hanging out in the bad parts of town, the type that he suspected dealt with drugs. The one with jet black hair wore a denim jacket with the sleeves ripped off, and Dash could barely make out the skull tattoo on his upper bicep. The other man, who faced Dash, had tattoos on what looked like every inch of him from the neck down, or at least what wasn't covered by his clothes.

Dash approached the building, trying to appear natural, like he was doing nothing more than entering to make a purchase. With a quick glance, he saw that neither of the men noticed him. He crept closer toward their side of the building until he was close enough to overhear their conversation.

"You got the stuff?" asked Mister Jet Black Hair. Despite the firm, control of his voice, there was a jitteriness to it, like an addict starting to feel the effects of withdrawal.

"Money first," Mister Tattoo said as he glanced around nervously. Perhaps this wasn't his usual spot for dealing.

Jet reached into the back pocket of his too tight jeans. He held a wad of cash up between two fingers. The folded bills were fanned only enough to prove that it was at least two or three hundred dollars. When Tattoo reached for the cash, Jet snapped his hand back with surprising quickness. "You don't get the money until I see it."

Tattoo grumbled but shoved a hand into his pocket.

Dash didn't need to hear anymore to know this was definitely a drug deal. He retrieved his gun from its side holster. In one quick movement, he appeared around the corner. "Freeze!" he shouted with his gun aimed at the men. "You're both under-"

"Shit!" cursed Jet before he sped off into the shadows. With his buyer bailing, Tattoo didn't wait around either, and Dash was left to figure out who to chase. He was saved from making the decision when Hearst arrived on the scene.

"Go after him," Dash barked the order and pointed after Tattoo. He didn't care if he would be reprimanded for his actions later. He trusted the dealer to his partner while he chased the buyer.

Jet seemed like a fitting name for the man. He was rather fast as he raced through side alleys. But Dash was no slowpoke, and that was why he chose the buyer over the dealer. He knew there was no way Hearst would ever catch up with Jet. Years of training for football thankfully paid off. Dash tackled Jet to the ground and wrestled to pin the man's arms behind his back.

"You have the right to remain silent," Dash read off the man's rights as he slapped the cuffs around Jet's wrists. Jet put up what seemed like a halfhearted struggle with an annoyed grumble of "yeah, yeah, yeah" when Dash asked if he understood his rights as read to him.

"So you caught yours," Hearst said, pulling up alongside them in the alley.

The comment sent a wave of frustration rolling over Dash. Hearst clearly hadn't caught Tattoo and possibly didn't put up much of an effort in trying. He even sounded annoyed that Dash managed to catch Jet.

Dash climbed to his feet and hauled Jet up along with him. He bit back an angry remark at his partner. After shoving Jet into the back of the police car, Dash slammed the door shut. This bust would have been more successful if they had caught the dealer as well, but apparently Hearst didn't care about the bust. Dash got back into the car and glared at the passing scenery. His first real bust on the job, and he didn't feel any pleasure at his success.

 

After they arrived back at the precinct, Hearst led Jet to one of their interrogation rooms. While Hearst went to speak with the chief, Dash waited on the opposite side of the one-way mirror. He wasn't allowed to question the buyer, so he gritted his teeth in frustration.

Jet sat in the room, leaning back in the chair with his feet resting on the table. As bored as he looked, he seemed completely relaxed about being held in an interrogation room, like he expected to be told he was free to go at any moment.

"Hey," Kwan said, peeking into the observation room. "I just heard you made a drug bust."

Dash tore his gaze away from the man on the other side of the glass. "Really?" he questioned skeptically.

Kwan sighed as he entered the room. "Okay. So talk is Hearst made the bust, but that idiot couldn't catch anything." A brow quirked up, and Kwan frowned. "And I was expecting you to be a little more happy about making your first bust."

Dash nodded toward the interrogation room. "This just feels surreal."

Kwan wandered over to stand by his long time friend. What could possibly have his friend acting so weirdly? He stared at the buyer, and his jaw nearly dropped from his shock. "Is this some kind of joke?"

"Nope," Dash answered, but he also had trouble believing who sat in the interrogation room at that moment.

"But this can't be real," Kwan argued. "Fenton isn't some druggie."

"And you think I want to believe it?" Dash shouted, his hands closing in tight fists as the urge to punch something rose in him. He certainly was never best friends with Fenton, bullying the other man for the first two years of high school. But he couldn't understand why Fenton would turn to drugs. "I didn't recognize him at first, but he was there trying to buy drugs off some dealer."

"You're right," Kwan mumbled, still stunned. "This is surreal."

The door to the interrogation room opened, and Chief Coyle entered. Dash stood up a little straighter. The chief never did interrogations. Why was he coming to question Fenton of all people? Buying drugs wasn't a serious enough crime to warrant interrogation by the police chief.

"You're free to go," Chief Coyle announced. At that, Fenton stood and smirked toward the one-way mirror like he knew exactly where Dash stood behind it.

"What?" Dash exclaimed, and Kwan shrugged, equally confused. He stormed out of the observation room and into the interrogation room. "Sir, he was caught trying to buy drugs. How can you just let him walk out of here?"

Fenton snorted, and Dash glared at him. "You didn't break up a drug deal. You ruined my undercover investigation."

"What?" Dash asked numbly as he stared at Fenton. "But-"

"Show him the badge," Fenton said as he folded his arms. Chief Coyle held up a badge, and Dash only needed a quick glance to confirm that it, in fact, belonged to Fenton.

"You don't keep your badge on you?" Dash was still trying to process the fact that Fenton was in reality a cop instead of the drug addict he appeared to be.

Fenton scowled at him. "Don't you understand what undercover means?" His mouth twitched in a sort of smirk when Dash glowered at him. "Some of the dealers are smart enough to actually check for a badge."

"Unfortunately, you'll be assigned to a new case now, Fenton," Chief Coyle said, breaking up the little glaring contest taking place between the young officers.

"Wait. What? Why?" Fenton demanded, confused and with a hint of whininess in his voice at the end.

"Your cover could be at risk now."

"But I've been working this case for six months," Fenton argued. "I was so close to getting the supplier. You'll never get another undercover cop this close again."

"And how will you explain to them your quick release from police custody?" Chief Coyle inquired. Fenton's mouth worked up and down, but he was at a loss for words.

Dash felt guilty. Because of his actions, Fenton would pulled off a case that he clearly spent a long time working hard at. He wouldn't be happy if he were in Fenton's place. "Um," Dash ventured, drawing the other men's attentions. "Technically speaking, I didn't see anything." When they gave confused looks, he sighed. "I never saw the other guy pull out the drugs. I jumped in before he had the chance. Since he got away, we don't have any real proof to hold Fenton's cover on."

"That," Fenton said in a slow, thoughtful manner, "could work. I could make that story work."

Chief Coyle didn't look entirely convinced at this idea. But he agreed to allow Fenton to stay on the case.

Dash stepped out of the room at that point. His shoulders sagged as he headed down the hallway. His first real bust had nearly screwed up another officer's work.

"I can't believe you helped Fenton out back there," Kwan said as he fell into step beside his friend.

"I did kind of almost screw things up for him," Dash muttered, unhappy with himself. "Besides this isn't high school."

"I know. Just surprising after everything we did to him." Kwan shook his head. "Who would have thought the three of us would all work at the same precinct?"

Dash wasn't sure, but he would bet that person was somewhere laughing at him right now.


	2. Chapter 2

Danny chewed in frustration on the straw from the soda that he had with his lunch. Three days already passed since Dash fouled up his investigation, and Danny had yet to track down the dealer again. Six months of undercover work delving into the dark parts of town to find the right dealer now felt wasted. Working undercover left him a little disgusted to find how many dealers there actually were in their town. But only one of them had his interest because only one person sold this new drug on the market. Danny needed to find out who was supplying the drug before anyone else ended up in the hospital.

Where was Lucas? Danny questioned some of his sources, but none of them had seen Lucas. He wasn't at any of his usual haunts either. Danny guessed he couldn't blame the man for wanting to keep a low profile after nearly getting busted dealing drugs. He wanted to wrap this case up quickly, but without Lucas, he would never find the supplier.

"Hey!"

Danny tensed as he sat up straighter. That couldn't have been - He turned his head, and his mouth dropped open, the straw falling from it. It was bad enough discovering that Dash worked at the same precinct as him. Now he had Kwan to deal with too? "Uh," he said uncertainly. "Hey, Kwan. What are you doing here?" _And more importantly, why are you talking to me?_ He couldn't fathom an answer to that question.

"Lunch break," Kwan answered as he joined Danny on the street curb. "Funny running into you here."

"Yeah," Danny mumbled, frowning at Kwan's goofy grin. The two people he hoped never to see again after graduating high school just had to keep popping up in his life? Someone liked to make his life miserable.

"Oh man!" Kwan grabbed his arm suddenly, twisting Danny toward him. Their knees knocked into each other, and Danny winced at the hold on his arm. Kwan hadn't lost any of his football strength and apparently hadn't learned to hold a little of that strength back. Neither had Dash. "You seriously got a tattoo?" He examined the skill inked on Danny's upper arm. "Did that - what's her name - your girlfriend make you get this? Seems like something she'd like."

The words worked slowly through his stunned mind. "You mean Sam?"

"Yeah, that Goth chick!" Kwan laughed. "Everyone knew you two would get together."

Danny shifted uncomfortably at that comment as he extracted his arm from Kwan's hold. "We're not a couple," he said coldly.

"Oh come on!" Kwan slapped him hard on the shoulder. "You don't have to pretend. It was obvious you liked each other."

"Yeah, we were together. As in past tense," Danny grumbled as he rubbed his shoulder. They were still friends, of course, but living in different towns made it hard for them to hang out like they used to in high school. He missed that. "We broke up before graduation."

"Oh." Kwan frowned, a lost look entering his eyes like he suddenly couldn't think of how to keep the conversation going. But that lasted all of one moment before he started chatting again. "That's rough, man! And now you're stuck with that permanent reminder? Have you considered doing that laser removal thing?"

Danny blinked then laughed, startling Kwan. "This isn't real. I know this guy that's pretty good at doing fake tattoos." He snapped his mouth shut before anything else slipped out. How was he to explain that? He couldn't got around blathering about his undercover investigation, even to an old classmate. "Just testing it out. You know, like seeing how much I like it before getting a real one. If I ever decided to get one."

Kwan stared at him with a look like he understood some deeper meaning in Danny's words. "Say that's a pretty good idea! Wouldn't want to permanently scar your body then decide you hate it."

Danny agreed with a weak laugh. Because he didn't already have enough scars. His shoulders drooped. Especially on the inside. He missed the frown that Kwan gave him while his gaze was focused on the street at his feet.

"Well," Kwan sighed, "my break is almost over, so I should probably be heading back now." He stood up, dusting himself off. "We should hang out some time. You, me, and Dash." He grinned like an idiot at the idea, completely ignoring the horror that flashed in Danny's eyes. "We can," he hesitated for half a beat, "catch up on things post Casper High."

At least he hadn't suggested reminiscing on old times. While Dash and Kwan might enjoy hashing out all the fun they had in high school, Danny thought he would only feel like the pathetic loser had been all through high school. "Yeah, sounds fun," he mumbled, though to him it sounded like anything but fun.

"Great!" The idea clearly excited Kwan, and he clearly missed the sarcasm from Danny. "I'll see you around then." He reached down and ruffled Danny's hair. Then he continued on his way down the street as he headed back to work.

Once Kwan was gone, Danny dropped his head into his hands. How much worse could his life get? His chance to catch the supplier was likely gone for good now and he couldn't escape his high school bullies. All he had to do was avoid Dash and Kwan from now on and he wouldn't be subjected to that miserable experience of "hanging out" with them. He doubted it would be that hard. He hadn't even known they still lived in Amity Park until Dash tried to arrest him.

Bumping into Kwan reminded him that he hadn't spoken to Tucker or Sam in a while. Danny pulled out his cell phone and stared at it. His friends were probably busy. They always were now that they had jobs. He was supposed to be busy as well, but until he located Lucas, his investigation was stalled. It was like Lucas disappeared off the face of the planet. And that thinking led him to think about ghosts. He rubbed at his forehead. Not everything had to do with ghosts, even if a lot of his life did still involve ghosts. Nothing about this drug dealing, however, even suggested a ghost was involved.

Danny lifted his head and smirked. That didn't mean he couldn't use a little ghostly help to track down Lucas. He tucked his phone back into his pocket as he stood. After he found Lucas, he could follow him invisibly until he met with his suppliers. "I really should have thought of that ages ago," he mumbled, hanging his head in depression. At least this way, he didn't have to worry about a blown cover. It also meant he could drop the disguise, which was a relief for him because he hated dressing up in these clothes. Danny started down the street, heading for his apartment to change before starting his search for Lucas anew.


	3. Chapter 3

Kwan tore his gaze away from his work and glared at his friend while Dash paced on the other side of the table. This had been going on for the past twenty minutes as Dash flipped through the file in his hands. "You're being really annoying," Kwan said, pinching the bridge of his nose and sending his glasses askew. "I can't concentrate with you pacing like that." He fixed his glasses to sit straight on his nose again.

"Two arrests," Dash complained and slapped the closed file down on the tabletop. "We've been working here for about the same amount of time, and he's already made two arrests. And me? All I have to my name is one blundered arrest of an undercover cop."

"I never should have given you Fenton's file," Kwan muttered, hanging his head. "Let it go, Dash. Why does it matter who's made more arrests? This is a job, not a contest. He works alone undercover. Of course he gets credit for the arrests. While you work with Hearst, who, if he ever got off his lazy ass, would steal credit for any arrest you make."

"I still think he purposely runs patrol routes where he knows no crimes will happen." Dash folded his arms, anger etched across his face. He didn't expect crimes to happen all the time, but they seemed to never have much in the way of serious crimes occurring on their patrols. He knew he wasn't in some competition to beat Fenton in the number of arrests they made. Misplaced anger, Kwan would tell him. Old habits, Dash decided. It was easy to place all his anger and frustration on Fenton, like he did back in high school. "I just want to do something more than shutting down frat parties."

"Maybe you should take a page from Fenton," Kwan suggested as he adjusted the microscope before him on the table. "You could see about transferring to an undercover job."

Dash huffed at that but admitted there was some appeal to the idea. Working undercover would at least give him the excuse to work alone instead of being stuck as partners with Hearst. Then he snorted. "And copy Fenton?"

Kwan sighed as he sat back in his chair. Was he ever going to get his work finished? "What are you going to say next?" An eyebrow lifted with the question. "You can't pursue an undercover career because that's what Fenton does, and Fenton's a loser and that makes it uncool?"

"I know this isn't high school," Dash snapped loudly, but Kwan merely watched him, unimpressed with the outburst.

"Well, I'm glad you've realized that because I ran into Fenton earlier today and told him we should all hang out."

Dash's eye twitched at that comment, and he didn't miss the half smirk on Kwan's face. "Why would you do that?" He kept his voice under control, but it was tense, holding back another angry explosion.

"He's the only other person who went to Casper High with us that still lives here," Kwan explained as he glanced toward the door. His boss Berman would be back any moment now, and the man hated when Dash popped by for visits. "I thought it would be nice to have someone else to hang out with. You should see if he's available for our murder movie marathon on Saturday."

"Why don't you do that?" Dash clearly didn't approve of Fenton joining them on their night to kick back and relax. "You're the one that invited him in the first place."

"You're more likely to run into him before I do." Kwan fiddled with the microscope again as he peered down at the sample on the slide. "I'm stuck down here in the lab all day, after all."

"Baxter, haven't I told you to stop coming in here and distracting him?" Berman demanded the moment he entered the lab. He was a tall lanky man with thick glasses that made his eyes look five times their normal size. He apparently didn't get out much in the sun either because he was as pale as a ghost. "We're very busy analyzing evidence."

"I was just leaving," Dash said in his fake polite voice. Kwan remembered hearing his friend slip into that voice every time he came over in high school and greeted Kwan's parents. Then Dash leaned toward Kwan. "You do realize Fenton will probably say no, right?"

Lifting his head, Kwan grinned at his friend. "I wouldn't be too sure about that answer." His grin didn't leave when Dash glowered at him, and Kwan knew that only annoyed his friend even more.

"Back to work," Berman barked, making Kwan cringe.

"Catch ya later." Dash picked up the file then left the lab.

Kwan sighed as he turned back to his current assignment. He knew Dash wouldn't be happy with the idea of Fenton hanging out with them, but he had feared Dash would start shouting about the absurdity of a loser hanging around them. It seemed like a crazy idea even to him. When he spotted Fenton sitting on the curb, Kwan surprisingly couldn't leave it alone. He knew Dash was right: Fenton would find some excuse to say no and get out of joining them. Kwan thought they needed to at least try reaching out to him. He could simply be reading something that wasn't there, but Fenton looked lonely to him.

Kwan reached for a pen to jot down a note. "Ow!" He yanked his hand back quickly when he felt something pierce his flesh. His movement caused the sharp implement to slice across his flesh. Blood beaded along the cut on the back of his hand. He stared at the shallow wound, baffled. What had cut him? There was nothing sharp on the table. A clatter drew him from his confusion. Kwan glanced over and spotted a scalpel resting on the table. With a frown, he picked up the scalpel. The tip was stained with his blood. Where did the scalpel even come from? They didn't keep any in their lab. Kwan stood, and Berman looked up from his work.

"Where are you going?" Berman demanded, thinking Kwan was slacking off again.

"I, uh, cut myself," Kwan answered in a somewhat doubtful manner. He couldn't fathom what exactly happened. The scalpel appeared out of nowhere. But if it had been left out randomly, how could it have sliced across the back of his hand? It was almost like someone stood over him and slashed at his hand the moment he reached out with it. Except no one had been there. Only Berman and he were in the lab after Dash left.

Kwan exited the lab and entered the nearest bathroom. "Maybe I'm just tired," he mumbled as he turned on the water in the sink. Since the cut was shallow, the bleeding already stopped. He washed away the few drops of blood. Did tiredness really explain how he cut himself? Kwan stared at the thin line on the back of his hand then sighed. He did feel too tired to think of an explanation, which made him look forward all the more to movie night on Saturday. He needed the night to unwind after a long week. "If only it was already Friday." But unfortunately, it was only Tuesday. He dried off his hands and tossed the used paper towel into the trash. He left the bathroom, missing a chuckle that was too soft to hear over the creak from the door as it closed behind him.


	4. Chapter 4

After changing into his normal clothes, Danny flew around town in search of the drug dealer Lucas. He popped in and out of buildings around where Lucas tended to hang out according to the people he met while undercover. Through the afternoon and into the early evening, his search came up empty. He sighed as he floated over Amity Park. He only covered a small portion of the town and still had plenty more to search. Even with ghost powers, this search would take some time.

Danny gasped as a blue wisp drifted from his parted lips. "A ghost, now?" he wondered out loud with a sigh. He surveyed the town from above and in a moment heard screams coming from his right. Speeding down toward the commotion, Danny kept his eyes peeled for the ghost. He spotted a young woman huddled under a table outside a little cafe as she cried while everyone else in the area ran. The woman caught his attention because beside her was the pale form of a ghost. Danny darted forward as the ghost reached a hand toward the woman. He didn't know what this ghost wanted - he didn't recognize it - but he couldn't all the ghost to harm someone.

"Back off, creep face," Danny said as he phased through the woman. His arms wrapped around the stunned ghost. Then he shot up toward the sky. He wanted to keep the fight away from where people might get hurt.

"Let go!" the ghost wailed, struggling in Danny's arms.

"Sorry, but I can't let you hurt those people." Danny kept his hold on the ghost, but he couldn't understand why the ghost wasn't fighting back.

The ghost tried to wiggle out of his arms, but he didn't use any powers. He didn't go intangible and phase through Danny's arms. He didn't shoot blasts of any kind at Danny. It was almost like the ghost didn't know how to use any of its powers. "I wasn't going to hurt anyone." The ghost tried to push itself out of Danny's arms, still wrapped tightly around his waist.

There was always the possibility that the ghost was trying to trick him, but the ghost spoke with such sincerity that Danny believed him. "If I release you, will you stay and talk?" Over the years, he learned many ghosts simply wanted to live peacefully in the human world without stirring up trouble. If this ghost was like that, Danny saw no reason to toss him back into the Ghost Zone. But he had to make the ghost understand about not scaring people.

The ghost stilled, thinking over Danny's question. "Okay," he said with a nod. When Danny freed him, the ghost floated a little distance away then turned to face Danny. "How are we doing this?" He stared fearfully at the town below them.

"We're ghosts," Danny answered, almost wanting to laugh at the question.

"What?" The ghost was shocked and confused. "I can't be dead!" He grabbed hold of the front of Danny's suit. His eyes spoke of desperation, begging Danny to say it was all a joke.

"You didn't know?" Danny couldn't remember encountering a ghost that hadn't realized it died.

The ghost's hands fells away from Danny as his expression crumbled and his body sagged. "No wonder she was terrified when she saw me."

"Your girlfriend?" Danny realized that answer would explain why the ghost sought out that particular woman.

The ghost nodded miserably, waves of gloom rolling off him. Then he contorted, back arching, as he screamed, a horribly agonizing noise ripping from his throat. Danny dodged quickly as a second bolt shot toward him. He scanned the area then gritted his teeth when he spotted a Guy in White flying toward them. He aimed the ecto blaster at them as it charged another bolt.

Danny fired an ecto energy ball at the Guy in White, who dodged it. But while the Guy in White corrected his flight, Danny grabbed hold of the unconscious ghost and turned them both invisible. Then he zoomed through the sky, leaving the Guy in White looking for something he couldn't see. Why couldn't the Guys in White leave him alone?

A blast hit him in the side, and Danny gasped in pain. He spiraled down toward the ground as his ability to fly abandoned him. Panic washed over him, his heart pounding as the wind whipped around him. He was falling too fast. Above him, the Guy in White shot a net toward them. Danny clamped his eyes shut, preparing himself for the familiar pain of electrocution. But it didn't come. Instead cold, steely arms caught him.

Danny cracked an eye open in time to glance back and see the portal close behind them. Opening both eyes, he stared at the swirling green of the Ghost Zone. Someone had rescued him from being captured by the Guys in White. He tilted his head back to get a look at his rescuer. "Skulker!"

"You need to be more careful, Ghost Child," Skulker said as he halted in flight. Now that they were in the Ghost Zone, they were safe. The Guys in White couldn't follow them here.

Danny glowered at the name, but Skulker wouldn't be swayed from calling him that. He was no longer a child! But he felt like he regressed to fourteen when Skulker called him Ghost Child. "I can handle the Guys in White."

"Really?" Skulker looked skeptical of that claim.

In the next instance, rings of light appeared around Danny's waist, and he reverted back to Danny Fenton. He paled. "When did they learn to do that?" Fear coiled inside him. He had been moments away from being exposed the Guys in White if Skulker hadn't saved him.

"They recently modified their ecto blasters with the ability to fire spectral energy neutralizer shots."

"That's terrifying and going on the 'things to remember' list." Danny rubbed at his aching forehead. His parents and Vlad still surpassed the Guys in White when it came to ghost hunting tech, but the Guys in White seemed to be catching up recently. He hoped they never figured out portal technology. Danny glared at Skulker. "Been stealing from my parents again?"

"Portable access to the Ghost Zone has its advantages." Skulker grinned proudly, not feeling any shame in stealing.

Danny sighed. There was no point trying to speak about morals to Skulker. He, like many ghosts, did as he pleased, and Danny couldn't deny that the portable access saved his secret identity from being discovered. "Well, thanks for saving me." It still felt strange to say it, and it sadly wasn't his first time having to say it to the ghost. He frowned at Skulker's self-satisfying smirk that made Danny feel like Skulker was tallying up all the favors that Danny owed him now. His attention turned back to the unfamiliar ghost, who was still unconscious after the attack by the Guys in White. "Think you can find a safe place for this guy? He didn't even know he was a ghost, and with the Guys in White on the hunt, it's not safe for him to wander around in the human world."

"I think I can help there."

Danny tensed at the new voice, but nothing happened when he tried to turn ghost. He still needed time before the effects of the attack wore off. Skulker adjusted his hold on Danny and raised his arm toward the newcomer. Parts shifted, and in seconds, his arm sported a new gun that Danny suspected was more stolen tech.

"What do you want, Dan?" Danny demanded, narrowing his eyes at his future evil self.

Dan held up his hands as he smirked, knowing even with new upgrades Skulker wasn't much of a threat to him. "Not here to fight." His expression changed to one of great frustration and anger. "Besides Clockwork can still wipe out my existence whenever he likes."

"So you're like his lap dog now," Danny said, and his grin stretched from ear to ear at Dan's smoldering glare.

"Look," Dan snapped, his flaming hair seeming to grow with his anger. "Hand over the ghost, and I can be done with this task."

"What does Clockwork want with this ghost?" Skulker questioned with his gun still trained on Dan.

"Clockwork doesn't explain beyond what's necessary." Dan stretched out an impatient hand toward them. "He sent me to collect the ghost for safe keeping. He didn't give me a reason."

Danny glanced at Skulker, who wasn't convinced by anything Dan said. "Clockwork wouldn't let him roam free if he was going to do anything bad," he pointed out, trusting in Clockwork even if he didn't understand what the Time Ghost was up to. But Danny knew the new ghost would be safe with Clockwork.

Danny tried his powers and happily discovered he could go ghost again. Slipping from Skulker's hold, Danny floated over to Dan. His future self didn't instill a lot of trust in him, but Danny doubted Dan wanted to give Clockwork the excuse to erase his existence in this time line. He handed the ghost over, and Dan tossed the ghost over one shoulder.

"Be sure to get your doggie treat from Clockwork when you get back," Danny teased, unable to hold back a joke at the expense of his evil future self. It was such a rare opportunity.

Dan glowered. "You're lucky you're off limits," he grumbled then shot off through the Ghost Zone with the unconscious ghost in tow.

"Don't give me that look," Danny said, not needing to turn around to know the look that Skulker directed at the back of his head.

"Just watch your back," Skulker told him. "The Guys in White won't give up."

Danny frowned as he folded his arms. Sometimes, he thought destroying the Reality Gauntlet wasn't his wisest decision. "You don't have to remind me." Then he turned around, and a smirk appeared. "You up for a hunt?"

"Always," Skulker replied, returning the smirk.


	5. Chapter 5

Danny frowned as he checked his phone again for what was probably the one hundredth time in the past ten minutes. No message, no change. Danny grew annoyed with waiting. "And I thought this was a great idea," he muttered as he shoved his phone back into his pocket. With Skulker's help, he managed to find Lucas within the week. Then it took some convincing to stop Skulker from capturing the drug dealer, or generally terrorizing him. Now he had Skulker keeping watch on the man while Lucas hid in a warehouse at the edge of town.

"Why don't you capture your prey?" Skulker asked when Danny told him the plan to stake out the warehouse. Danny would do it himself, but he couldn't remain in his ghost form indefinitely and after nine hours of observing Lucas, he had to leave and get some rest. That was when he decided to make Skulker his eyes on Lucas.

Danny explained that Lucas was only the bait to lure out the real prey. At that, Skulker grinned proudly, reminding him of Vlad when he thought he had taught Danny something. Danny guessed maybe he did learn a little from both of them over the years.

But since they found his location, Lucas did nothing but remain in the warehouse and watch television. The only contact to the outside world he made was to order takeout. Danny could understand lying low, but as time passed, he couldn't figure out why Lucas hadn't left sometimes to deal drugs. Wouldn't his supplier get angry after he didn't make any sales for too long?

"Fenton."

Danny lifted his head and sighed. Would things never go his way? "Hey, Dash," he greeted awkwardly before stepping around the man. He almost cringed when Dash started walking beside him. "What do you want?" Dash was obviously busy or had something planned, based on the bags of chips and case of beers he carried.

"Man, you are grouchy," Dash muttered more to himself than to Danny. He sighed and rolled his eyes toward the sky. "I can't believe I'm doing this."

"I can hear you," Danny said, shooting a glare at Dash. "Just spit it out and get it over with." Was he cursed? Danny would blame it all on the accident that gave him his ghost powers, but he had bad luck long before that happened.

"Kwan said he met with you, and he'd be pretty pissed if I didn't ask." Dash shook his head and took a breath. "Do you want to join me and Kwan for a movie marathon?" His tone was bored, and he wouldn't look at Danny when he asked.

"You don't really want me there." Danny could see it written all over the way Dash acted. Four years of high school together also told him that Dash generally didn't want anything to do with him unless it involved his fist in Danny's face.

Dash bristled at the comment. "You can say no if you want," he snapped. "For whatever reason, Kwan seems to think it's important to hang out. Or something. I don't know! He's been bugging me about asking you."

Danny blinked slowly as he stared at Dash. In high school, being invited to hang out wish Dash would have been a dream. Popularity was a big deal when he was fourteen. He eyed Dash with some skepticism. But what point did bullying him serve Dash now? This wasn't high school, and they were supposed to have grown up by now. "When is this movie thing?"

Dash glanced at the chips and beer. "The moment we reach Kwan's," he answered, lifting his gaze back to Danny. Uncertainty was in his blue eyes, like he wasn't sure if the question meant yes or no.

Danny debated it. With Skulker staking out the warehouse, Danny had little to do but wait. He was tempted to go over to the warehouse in disguise, but he wouldn't be able to explain how he found Lucas. "All right," he said, not sure why he was agreeing to this. Maybe it was the inner loser in him rejoicing about the popular jocks inviting him to do something without any seeming ulterior motive.

Dash looked surprised by the answer as well. "This way then," he said and led the way to Kwan's apartment.

Neither of them spoke along the way, the awkward silence seemed like a precursor for the entire evening. Other than attending Casper High together and working for the same precinct, they didn't have much in common. What would they even talk about? Danny didn't want to recall everything that happened in high school. By the time he started to reconsider his decision, it was too late. They stood outside an apartment door, and Dash shoved a case of beer into Danny's hands. Then he fished keys from the pocket of his jeans.

"You two share an apartment?" Danny asked as Dash unlocked the door. He was certain Dash referred to it as Kwan's place.

"The idiot usually doesn't answer the door right away," Dash explained, pushing the door open. "I was once standing out here for an hour, pounding on the door, before he answered it. It's just easier having my own key." When they entered, the aroma of hot food cooking hit them, and Dash sighed. "Get out of the kitchen," he called, closing the door behind them.

Danny stood awkwardly in the apartment as he glanced around. The apartment was bigger than his, and a lot nicer too. While Danny's apartment was a complete mess, Kwan's place was clean of any mess or clutter. His couch looked cushy and comfortable and faced a wide screen television mounted on the wall. Pictures of Kwan and Dash were scattered around the room with some of what Danny guessed were Kwan's parents. But none of the other popular kids from Casper High made the cut for display. Only Dash.

"It's almost finished," Kwan shouted from another room.

Dash rolled his eyes. "He does this every time," he whispered to Danny. "He always thinks he has to make some big meal. This is supposed to be our relaxing time."

Danny nodded, watching as Dash moved farther into the apartment. This was weirder than when he went to Dash's party and found all the guests dressed like him, Tucker, and Sam. Something about "loser chic" if Danny remembered correctly. Dash dumped the bags of chips on the coffee table before the couch then looked back to Danny.

"Seriously, dude," Dash said with an amused smirk. "Relax."

Danny raised an eyebrow at him. Nothing about this situation said "relax" to him. Why did he think agreeing to this was a good idea? Danny walked over and set the case of beer beside the chips on the table.

Kwan's head appeared in a door way. "Just give me two seconds." He started to go back into the kitchen then he did a double take of his guests. "Fenton, you came!" A big, goofy grin was on his face that made Danny wonder why this simple fact made Kwan so happy. But then, Kwan was always the strangest jock that he ever met.

"Uh, yeah," Danny replied, shifting uncomfortably. With how excited Kwan sounded, Danny felt like he was doomed even more to go through with this night. He resisted pulling out his phone and begging Skulker to tell him Lucas made contact with his supplier. But part of agreeing to this was to take his mind off the case.

"Okay, just," Kwan glanced at something in the kitchen. "Just sit, relax. We'll be ready to start in about one second." He dashed back into the kitchen.

"Next time," Dash shouted as he dropped onto the far end of the couch, "we do this at my place, and you're forbidden from entering the kitchen." He leaned back, throwing an arm over the back of the couch as he put a foot up on the table.

Danny sat down on the opposite side. His eyes looked everywhere but at Dash. "So, um," he struggled to think of a topic, "how do you like being a cop?"

"It's not entirely what I expected," Dash answered, staring at the blank television screen. "Hate my partner."

Danny laughed, a short one with a hint of nervousness. "That's why I chose undercover: no partner." It was somewhat true. Working alone on a case meant his ghostly duties didn't interfere or cast suspicion on him. He doubted he could get away with his disappearing act, like in high school, if he had a partner.

Dash nodded, and they lapsed into silence again. They were saved when Kwan joined them with a big platter filled with egg rolls. He started to make another trip into the kitchen, but Dash grabbed his arm and dragged him down onto the couch.

"We're starting the first movie," Dash said with a pointed glare at his friend. "If we need more food, we can get it between movies." He got up to put in the DVD.

"So what are we watching?" Danny hadn't thought to ask beforehand.

Dash checked the DVD box. "Double Cross," he read. "It's a murder mystery. That's the theme for tonight's marathon."

Kwan leaned over toward Danny. "You missed the last one. It was romance dramas."

"Kwan!" Dash growled with a dark glare.

Danny bit his tongue to keep from laughing. "You like romance dramas?" He tried to make it sound innocent. While he could tease Dan, some, provoking Dash would have a rather painful outcome.

Dash snarled as he sat on the couch again. The movie was already starting. "You didn't have to tell him about that." He grabbed a beer and twisted the cap off.

Danny caught Kwan grinning impishly. He stared at the pair, wondering if he accidentally stepped into another dimension at some point. He never would have thought he would be sitting with Dash and Kwan while enjoying a movie. The movie wasn't too bad, though Danny's attention was distracted by the two men sharing the couch with him. He kept glancing at them as they commented on the movie, making jokes like any good friends would. Leaning on the arm of the couch, Danny frowned, gloom sweeping over him. He hadn't had a moment like that with Tucker or Sam since before graduation. He was actually jealous of Dash and Kwan.

After the third movie, Kwan darted back into the kitchen for more food. Kwan's cooking was actually really good. Danny lost count of how many egg rolls he ate after the fifth one. He reached for the last one on the platter when he bumped knuckles with Dash. After jerking his hand back, he gestured for Dash to take it.

But Dash picked it up and held the egg roll out to him. "Take it."

Danny hesitated before accepting the egg roll. Dash was being nice to him? This was all too weird! "You two get along really well," he mumbled then took a bite of the egg roll.

"Well, duh!" Dash snorted. "We're only best friends. Like you and your friends don't?"

Danny shrugged. "We haven't seen each other in a long time." And why did he tell Dash that? He didn't need his former bully pitying him.

"Never thought I'd see the end of the three musketeers." Dash sipped from his bottle of beer.

"It's not like we aren't friends anymore," Dash snapped, glaring at Dash.

"I hope you guys like this," Kwan said as he added a new plate to the table. This plate had some kind of sticky fried chicken.

"You already forgot our whole conversation about movie night appropriate snacks." Dash stared at Kwan, who looked completely oblivious to any such conversation. With a sigh, Dash hit play on the remote, and the next movie started. Danny settled back on the couch and tried to keep his mind focused on the movie.


	6. Chapter 6

Morning came, and Dash regretted the sleeping arrangements. That was the problem with the whole movie marathon night taking place at Kwan's apartment. Once they were all sufficiently stuffed with food and beer, they moved the coffee table out of the way then pulled out the fold out bed from the couch. Kwan grabbed some pillows from his room, and the three of them lay comfortably on the bed. The movie marathon continued until the three of them finally passed out. Dash couldn't remember when that was, but it was definitely well past midnight. Unfortunately, the fold out bed was horrible, and Dash always woke up the next day with his back aching.

He sighed, opening his eyes to stare at the ceiling in the gray light of morning. Kwan was to his left and snoring lightly while his head hung nearly off the bed. That wasn't so unusual for them. They shared a bed many nights before, starting in high school when the whole movie marathon originated. The odd part of waking up came from his right side in the form of Danny Fenton, who was first to fall asleep. Now Fenton used Dash's chest for a pillow, his actual pillow having fallen off the bed some time during the night. Dash's face scrunched up. Apparently, Fenton drooled in his sleep if the wet spot under his head was any proof.

Kwan's snores stopped as he woke next. "Ugh, my neck hurts," he complained and dragged himself fully back onto the bed. "Want coffee?"

Dash nodded with a groggy, "Yeah." Coffee sounded wonderful at that moment. After Kwan rolled off the fold out bed, Dash started to follow, but Kwan stopped him. Dash frowned with confusion knitted across his brow.

Kwan sighed tiredly. "If you get up, you'll wake him."

"So?"

"You should really be more observant. Didn't you notice how exhausted he looked?" Kwan hung his head when Dash gave no sign of understanding. "Just let him sleep a little longer."

Dash sighed in exasperation like it was some great chore to remain in bed. Kwan left the room to start work on the coffee. Meanwhile, Dash returned to staring at the ceiling. He hadn't really bothered to pay too much attention to it, since he was still opposed to Fenton joining their movie nights, but he guessed the man _did_ look a little drained. Fenton probably wasn't sleeping well, or much, judging from the bags under his eyes.

The smell of coffee brewing wafted in from the kitchen, and Dash was disappointed that the aroma didn't wake Fenton immediately. He slept like he was dead to the world. Dash felt temptation rising in him. But markers were out of his reach, so he regrettably pushed aside the thought of doodling on Fenton's face, as amusing an idea as it was.

Something vibrated against him, and Dash blinked at Fenton, confused by the sudden sensation. Fenton groaned in tired annoyance as he rolled away from Dash. His hand disappeared into his pocket, and he brought out his phone to see who was calling so early on a Sunday morning. He stared at the screen of the phone for two seconds before he declined the call. After dropping the phone on his chest, Fenton threw an arm over his eyes.

Dash took that moment of opportunity to climb off the bed. He sneaked into Kwan's bedroom and stole a clean shirt not covered in drool. As he pulled on the clean shirt, he stepped out of the bedroom. Fenton remained sleeping on the bed. After a moment, Kwan returned with two mugs of hot coffee and offered one to him.

"See?" Kwan grinned over the top of his mug. "It wasn't that bad hanging out with Fenton."

Dash glared at Kwan as he drank his coffee. He hated to admit it, but Fenton wasn't entirely all that bad. "You're only saying that because he wasn't drooling on you."

Kwan rolled his eyes at that comment. "You have to stop looking for excuses to hate people."

"I'm not," Dash grumbled defensively. He wasn't entirely the same as he was during their first two years of high school. But he doubted Fenton would simply forgive and forget everything that happened. _Not that I care_ , Dash thought, flicking his eyes away from Fenton's sleeping form.

Fenton released another groan in irritation as his phone buzzed, vibrating upon his chest. "What now?" he muttered as he checked the caller. His expression soured as he stared at the phone's screen. "What?" he all but shouted when he answered the call.

"Who do you think that is?" Kwan asked as they both watched Fenton.

Dash shrugged, pretending to be more interested in his coffee. Last night, he got the impression that there was some friction among Fenton and his friends. Either one of them could be the caller and elicit the anger from Fenton. But that made Dash wonder. What happened that broke up the happy trio of friends?

Fenton sat up suddenly, gripping the phone tightly as he gritted his teeth. Whatever the caller said, Fenton wasn't happy about hearing it. "He told you that?"

"Must be the girlfriend," Dash muttered then finished off his coffee.

"They broke up," Kwan mumbled, keeping his voice low so that Fenton wouldn't realize they were eavesdropping on his call. At the surprised look Dash gave him, Kwan shrugged. "He told me when I first suggested he hang out with us."

"No," Fenton growled, drawing their attentions back to him. "Just stop already! I don't need your help. I've got everything handled." He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath as he listened to the caller. "You two are getting worried over nothing. Just - Just go back to your own busy life and stay out of mine." He ended the call and dropped the phone into his lap. As he raked a hand through his hair, he glanced over to see the two men watching him. "Um," he looked away, embarrassed that they heard the conversation. "Well," he climbed off the fold out bed, "this was a lot of fun. But I should probably be going now."

"You could stay for breakfast," Kwan offered, and Dash glared at him because Fenton clearly wanted to leave. Kwan sometimes missed the obvious in his need to be nice to everyone.

"No, no." Fenton shook his head as he shoved his phone back into his pocket. "I have something to check on."

"Oh." Kwan frowned in disappointment. Then he set his mug on the coffee table before he approached Fenton, who looked like he would bolt from the apartment. "You should give us your number," he explained happily as he pulled out his phone. "Then we can call and tell you when we're having movie night again." He shrugged. "Or just to hang out."

Fenton stared, blinking blue eyes in disbelief. "You want to hang out again?"

"Of course!"

"You should just give him your number," Dash spoke up, rolling his eyes at the two men. "He won't stop bugging you until you do."

Fenton seemed hesitant but eventually told Kwan his number. Once that was finished, he said his goodbye and left the apartment.

"Man, you practically gave him a panic attack," Dash said, amused after Fenton left. He followed Kwan into the kitchen to start on breakfast. "Now what were you saying about a break up?"

Kwan shrugged as he got out a pan. "He didn't go into detail. Just said they broke up before graduation. I didn't think it was any of my business to ask more about it."

"That's because you're too nice." Dash rolled his eyes and helped Kwan make the omelet. But he guessed the break up, whatever caused it, was enough to cause a rift among the three friends. It still felt surreal that Fenton, Foley, and Manson weren't constantly together anymore like they were in high school.

"Speaking of break ups," Kwan glanced at Dash as the eggs cooked. "What happened with Stacy?"

Dash groaned, wanting to bang his head on the counter. "You're forbidden from mentioning that name to me again. Ever."

An amused grin danced across Kwan's face as they waited for breakfast to finish cooking.


	7. Chapter 7

Danny sighed as he stood outside the door to Kwan's apartment. He would have liked to stay. The aroma of coffee called to him, and his stomach growled in hunger. He still couldn't believe Kwan actually _wanted_ him to stay, though he was still pretty sure that Dash didn't want to be friends with him.

_Just as well_ , he thought as he hurried down the hallway. He didn't need friends. As he rubbed a hand over his chest, he squashed the unpleasant memories surfacing again. He didn't have time to dwell on the past. Before making his exit from Kwan's apartment, Danny sensed a ghost loitering around somewhere in the building. While the hallway appeared empty, that didn't mean there were no eyes spying through peepholes. Enough close calls taught Danny to be more cautious about where he transformed, especially now that he no longer had Tucker and Sam to cover for him.

After he found a dark alcove opposite the stairwell and out of sight of any prying eyes, Danny turned ghost. "You ruined my morning," he muttered, seeking out the ghost on lower floors. "So don't expect me to go easy on you if you're up to no good." The phone calls that morning did little to help his mood. Having to fight a ghost instead of eating a nice, hot breakfast only increased his irritation. He felt the need to punch something.

When he tracked down the wandering ghost, he was surprised to follow its trail back to Kwan's apartment. What was going on? The ghost didn't come straight to this apartment, its trail showing that it checked on several other rooms before reaching Kwan's room. Danny phased his head through the door and surveyed the place. Dash and Kwan pushed the fold out bed back in and threw the cushions onto the couch where they now sat enjoying their breakfast. Danny frowned at the scene, wondering if he followed the trail wrong. He couldn't remember the last time his ghost powers acted up, and he didn't sense any farther movement through the building. Then he spotted the ghost behind the pair. The ghost looked like he may have once shared a similar build as Dash and Kwan, but he had a wasted appearance to him with sunken red eyes.

If they were still in high school, Danny may have delayed his arrival a little and allowed the ghost to give the two former jocks a scare. Some payback for everything they did to him, Danny would reason. Despite some awkwardness, last night wasn't as horrible as he imagined it would be. He got the chance to relax and forget about work for a while. Neither Dash nor Kwan treated him badly like in high school. If they were starting to be nice to him, Danny didn't want to ruin it.

And the ghost held a knife poised for striking!

Danny flew into the room, tackling the ghost before he could do any harm to either of the two men. The knife dropped from his hold and clattered onto the wood floor behind the couch. The noise didn't go unnoticed, and the two former jocks immediately leaped off the couch to see what caused the noise.

"Danny Phantom!" Dash shouted in surprise when he spotted the two ghosts wrestling on the ground.

"Why is Danny Phantom in my apartment?" Kwan sounded more awed than shocked.

Danny was happy that they at least didn't freak out when they saw a ghost now. That was one thing about living in Amity Park all their lives: ghosts were an everyday occurrence. Most people still feared ghosts and ran from the scene screaming, but some grew used to the appearance of ghosts and long since gotten over the fright. Dash and Kwan were nothing to worry about as long as they didn't interfere with the fight.

Danny turned his attention back on the ghost. "Who are you?" he demanded, growling lowly at the ghost as he held him pinned to the floor. He didn't recognize this ghost, but that wasn't surprising. There were more ghosts than he could count living in the Ghost Zone. He doubted that he met even a thousandth of them.

The ghost laughed, and Danny didn't like the sound of it, full of cruelty and malice. "If you're smart, you'll stay out of this." He smirked in a way that he probably thought would send a chill down Danny's spine. But this ghost wasn't even a blip on Danny's radar.

His mouth thinned angrily as Danny glared at the ghost. "No one ever said I was smart." He held up a hand, forming a green ball of energy in his palm. Dash and Kwan stood back as they watched the exchanged in rapt silence. "Now answer the question."

"Oh, so scary." The ghost laughed, perhaps not taking Danny's threat seriously, which only angered Danny more. This ghost knew nothing of what Danny was capable of! He knew nothing of the horrors Danny faced ever since he was fourteen. This ghost was a speck of dust compared to the terrors held in the darkest shadows of the Ghost Zone.

Danny wasn't the first to notice the sound. His attention was too focused on trying to intimidate information out of the ghost. Dash tackling him was his first hint that something was wrong. Danny grunted as Dash's weight covered him. Glass shattered, and Danny tilted his head back to see the broken window. Beyond the window, he spied one of the Guys in White floating in air with a gun aimed into the apartment.

"Oh, you fool," Danny muttered, though part of him was thankful that Dash was present to watch his back. If Dash hadn't tackled him, that blast would have hit him, and with the spectral energy neutralizer, that would be disastrous. Unfortunately, it also allowed the unknown ghost to escape.

"What do you think you're doing?" Kwan demanded, stomping over to the window and glaring the man down.

"Hand over the ghost known as Danny Phantom," the Guy in White ordered with his gun now trained on Kwan.

"Is it usual protocol to destroy a civilian's home while apprehending a ghost?" Kwan wouldn't be cowed by the government official. He folded his arms across his broad chest and remained firmly rooted to the spot.

"You should get out of here," Dash whispered but didn't bother to climb off Danny.

"Right. Um, thanks." Danny sank through the floor, too stunned to know what else to do. Dash and Kwan were protecting him from the Guys in White? They couldn't even begin to understand what that meant to Danny. When he found an empty storage closet on the ground floor, Danny changed back to human. He couldn't sense the ghost anymore, but it would be dangerous to continue fighting with the Guys in White present.

_How did they get here so fast?_ Danny wondered as he stepped out of the closet. No one was around to question why he was in there, thankfully. He left the building as his mind continued turning over what happened. Why was a ghost attacking Dash and Kwan? Danny paused and stared at the building. He couldn't see the Guy in White from here since Kwan's apartment was on a different side. If a ghost was seeking vengeance on them, Danny needed to keep an eye on them. He rubbed at his head.

_Another thing to deal with_ , he thought tiredly. Sometimes, he really wished he had a normal life. Then he wouldn't need to worry about things like his secret, ghosts, or the Guys in White.

Danny pulled out his phone and quickly punched in a number as he walked down the street. "Please tell me you have something."

"I expected something more exciting when you said you needed my help for a hunt," Skulker grumbled, probably regretting agreeing to help. "Are you sure you don't want me to scare him a little? Maybe he'll finally leave this dump."

Danny closed his eyes against the temptation. "No, not yet," he answered with a sigh. "If we spook him, he might run to another hideout and be even less likely to contact his supplier. I can't risk losing this lead." _And I won't be able to explain the collar if I rely too much on ghost powers to catch the supplier_. Danny frowned at that thought. He probably could have finished this case ages ago if he could use his powers to catch his targets.

Skulker snorted. "You're the boss. For now."

"Speaking of bosses," Danny growled as his hand tightened around the phone. "Why did you tell Vlad about the Guys in White attack? He didn't need to hear about that."

"I have my orders. Anything regarding movement by the Guys in White is to be immediately reported to Plasmius."

Anger curled inside him, demanding to be released in some form. But one fact wiggled through the rage. Danny definitely wasn't going to tell Skulker about this recent attack by the Guys in White. Everything would be a lot simpler for him if the Guys in White would leave him alone, but they still considered him public ghost enemy number one. He sighed out some of his frustration. "All right. Give me a heads up if anything changes. I guess I'll be going back undercover and seeing if I can find another lead." If Lucas was out of commission for the time being, then the supplier may have sought out another dealer.

"Watch your back, Ghost Child."

Danny rolled his eyes. "I know what I'm doing." He ended the call, not wanting to hear any more words of worry from Skulker. He wasn't fourteen anymore! He didn't need Skulker and Vlad constantly watching over him. As he shook his head, he started back to his apartment to change into his undercover disguise.


	8. Chapter 8

Dash waited until Danny Phantom vanished through the floor before he climbed to his feet. He joined Kwan in glaring at the man dressed in white floating outside the smashed window. The Guys in White. Dash knew of them, though this was his first encounter with one of their agents. He didn't exactly agree with their methods, especially their persistent hunt of Danny Phantom. That point angered him. Danny Phantom was their town's hero! He wasn't the menace that the Guys in White painted him up to be.

"No, it's not," the agent agreed as he lowered his weapon. He looked rather unhappy with Kwan calling his methods into question. "Protocol dictates that we should cause as little property damage as possible."

Kwan smirked victoriously at that. "Then I suggest you leave before you break any more protocols. There's no ghost here."

 _Not anymore_ , Dash thought, relieved that Danny Phantom managed to escape. He still couldn't believe that Danny Phantom would show up here in Kwan's apartment, but he felt a rush of pride at being able to help out his hero.

The agent didn't leave like Kwan obviously hoped he would. He reached up his unarmed hand, and this time, Dash reacted too slowly. He noticed the cufflinks on the agent's sleeve start to change, parts shifting and changing into some weird device. Dash grabbed Kwan's hand to pull him away from the window as the agent flung the device. The glowing handcuffs caught each man by the wrist and drew them back until they slammed into the wall. Their wrists were pinned to the wall by the cuffs.

"Okay," Dash growled, trying to tug his hand free from the cuff. "Next time, maybe _don't_ piss off the government dude."

Kwan glowered as he tried to pry the cuffs from the wall. His attempts only resulted in scratching up his wrist as he tried to get his fingers around the cuffs but didn't have room between his trapped wrist and the cuff.

"According to rule 571 subsection N, we are allowed to apprehend any civilians under suspect of ghostly control for questioning." The agent entered the apartment through the window. With a hand to his sunglasses, he glanced around the room in seeming disappointment when no ghosts presented themselves to him.

"There are no ghosts here, bonehead." Dash snarled at the man as he continued his useless efforts to try to free his hand.

The agent bent down and picked up the knife lying behind the couch. "Spectral energy detected," he said as he held it up to eye level and examined it. "Unknown energy. Not belonging to Danny Phantom."

"See? No Danny Phantom here. Now release us!"

His attention turned from the knife to the two men. The agent's face held no expression. "I'll have to take you into custody. The ghost may still have control over you."

"We're not under any sort of mind control," Kwan stated calmly.

"I'd like to see you try," Dash growled. "As soon as you get close enough, I'm decking you."

"What happened to not provoking him?" Kwan reminded, always the more reasonable one.

"I meant that for before he pinned us to the wall," Dash grumbled. He got the strange feeling that this agent couldn't be reasoned with. He didn't want to know what this agent planned to do to them. "We're police officers, you fashion challenged freak!" Next to Dash, Kwan sighed and hung his head.

The left brow twitched at Dash's comment. The agent reached into the breast pocket of his suit then in a quick motion, he threw something. The small square object, looking somewhat like a computer chip, hit Dash in the chest. A surge of electricity surged through his body, and Dash shouted as his body contorted in pain. Kwan grabbed at the object. It sent a shock of pain through his hand, and he winced but eventually pried it off his friend's chest. He threw it away quickly, his fingers blackened. Dash sagged against the wall, his legs shaking. His skin still tingled, and his chest hurt terribly.

The agent approached them, but Dash didn't have the strength or energy to follow through with his threat of decking the man. A frown settled on the agent's face, and he remained silent for some time. "You been victim to ghostly possession before." His arm shot out, and he grabbed Dash by the throat. Dash cringed and reached up, weakly trying to pry the hand away.

"Let him go!" Kwan pulled back his free hand, curling it into a fist. Then he threw his punch with all the power he could muster. It connected solidly with the side of the man's head, and the agent fell back, releasing his hold on Dash's throat.

"Thanks, man." Dash coughed, rubbing his throat.

The agent climbed back to his feet. His sunglasses were askew, revealing brown eyes behind the dark lenses, and one lens was cracked. Anger flashed in his eyes as he adjusted the sunglasses back into place. "Do you think it wise to assault a government official?" He loomed over them.

Dash fisted a handful of the man's suit. "You're the one that came in here harassing us. Is that something your boss would want to hear about? Because we'd love to tell him all about how you basically electrocuted us." He glared at the agent, wishing his other hand was free. Then he could pay this man back in true Dash Baxter fashion. A fist slammed into his gut, and Dash gasped.

"I think my boss would be more interested in hearing about the two of you." The agent looked them over like he was trying to decide something. "Two men, both having experienced a possession, possibly more than once."

"Like that's so uncommon here," Kwan grumbled, glowering at the man.

The agent held up the knife, a little too close to Kwan's face for comfort. "You possess an item handled by a ghost, and recently at that. You're also suspect of at least attempting to protect public ghost enemy number one known as Danny Phantom, if not under the ghost's control. If you have any knowledge about Danny Phantom, we'd like to hear about it."

"You have no proof that Danny Phantom was even here," Kwan argued.

Dash worried that agent may have actually spotted Danny Phantom before he escaped. At least, this agent didn't seem all that smart then. He was wasting time on two humans instead of chasing after his true target. "Forget it, Kwan. This pinhead is just grabbing at straws in a desperate attempt to save his ass after messing up so badly." Another punch to his gut knocked the wind out of him. Somewhere in his mind, he thought maybe he should learn a little from Kwan about holding his tongue in a situation like this one.

The agent stood up straight again as Dash wheezed. His gaze turned to Kwan, who gulped. Something flashed in the man's eyes that chilled Kwan. Danger. This man was dangerous! They couldn't do much while pinned to the wall. Kwan slipped a hand into his pocket, pulling out his cell phone. They needed help!

"Ah, ah, ah," said the agent, knocking the phone from Kwan's hand. It clattered as it hit the floor. Kwan ground his teeth, not sure if he managed to make a call to anyone. "I can't allow that." The agent's voice sounded wrong, different from before. The knife flipped in his hand. Then it plunged into Kwan's gut.

Kwan couldn't tell if the shout came from him or if that was Dash yelling at the agent. He grabbed the man's wrist, trying to stop him at the very least from twisting the knife deeper. The manic grin stayed burned into his mind.


	9. Chapter 9

Danny was only a block away from Kwan's apartment when his phone buzzed. Coming to a halt, he pulled out his phone from his pocket as annoyance built up in him. Who was it now? He still hadn't even eaten breakfast yet!

"Hello?" But he didn't get an immediate response. Instead, he heard a clatter, like the caller dropped the phone. The shouts that followed sent panic through Danny. He checked the caller information, and his breath caught in throat. When he left them, he didn't see any reason to return. The Guys in White don't target humans. Danny didn't think they would be in any danger.

 _Idiot!_ He wanted to beat himself up for being so stupid, but he was wasting time. Danny spun on his heel and raced back toward Kwan's apartment. As he ran, he punched a number into his phone and held up to his ear. "This is Officer Fenton," he said the moment someone answered the phone. "I need backup and an ambulance to meet me at the Harrell apartment complex on seventh and Elm Street, apartment four B." He didn't need to say more and ended the call immediately after his request.

His heart hammered in his chest the whole way back to the building. A thousand terrifying images raced through his mind. Why would the Guys in White want Dash and Kwan? They helped Danny Phantom escape, but that didn't seem like enough of a reason. It wasn't like the two men could give the Guys in White any information.

Danny dashed up the stairs and down the hallway to Kwan's apartment. He nearly fell when he skidded to a stop outside the door. He heard yelling on the other side. Dash screamed out curses, and it sounded like blows were traded. What was going on inside the apartment? Danny grabbed hold of the doorknob and turned it intangible to disengage the lock. He would figure out how to explain that later. Then he made a show of kicking the door in, which banged into the wall with a resounding crash. His eyes grew wide when he spotted the Guy in White agent standing before Dash and Kwan. In his hand, he held a bloodied knife. Why would the Guys in White attack a human, and with a knife? It made no sense.

Then he felt it. The ghostly presence overshadowing the agent. It was the same ghost that attacked earlier. Blood stained Kwan's clothing, and he looked ready to drop any moment. Danny swallowed thickly. This was all his fault. Why did he have to keep hurting everyone around him?

"Fenton!" Dash shouted after the door crashed open, and Danny was surprised to hear the relief in the jock's voice. "This guy is a freaking nut!"

The agent released his hold on Kwan's shirt as he turned to face Danny. His eyes glowed red as they narrowed at the intruder. "Two birds. One stone. I rather like that." He lunged at Danny ready to slash at him.

 _So he figured out how to overshadow people_ , Danny thought as he grabbed the wrist of the hand with the knife. The ghost didn't seem to know about any of its other powers yet, which was good for Danny. He also didn't know anything about the agent's equipment, another advantage. Danny twisted the wrist until the possessed man released the knife. He needed to get the ghost out of the man so that he could use the Thermos to capture him.

This ghost couldn't be allowed to remain free, even if he wasn't very powerful. The ghost seemed determined to take his revenge on Dash and Kwan. If he started learning to use other powers, the ghost could quickly become a bigger threat since Danny couldn't keep watch over the two men all the time. He didn't like most of the things they did to him in the past, and he was their favorite punching bag in high school, but even he wouldn't try to kill them for that.

"Kwan!" Dash shouted, drawing Danny's attention. Kwan slid down to the floor. He held a hand over his wound while his other hand remained pinned to the wall by a glowing cuff. That explained how the ghost got the upper hand on the two of them. Dash and Kwan could have beaten the possessed man easily in a fair fight. The ghost probably waited for the two of them to be at a disadvantage before he tried overshadowing the agent.

In that moment of distraction, the ghost attacked, slamming his free fist into Danny's face. As he stumbled back, Danny released his hold on the man's wrist. Blood trickled from his nose, but Danny pushed past the throbbing ache. The possessed man dove for the knife. Danny kicked him in the chest, knocking the man onto his back with a loud thud. After he snatched up the knife, Danny hurried over to Dash and Kwan while the agent was down for the moment. The handcuffs pinning the two men to the wall didn't look like they would be easy to simply bust open. Danny stabbed the knife into the handcuffs, piercing the bit between Dash and Kwan's wrists.

"Fenton!" Dash's shout came too late. In the next moment, Danny's head slammed into the wall, his head spinning slightly from the blow. But with his body pressed flushed against the wall, Danny took the chance and phased the handcuffs free from Dash and Kwan. The agent yanked him away from the wall and threw him across the room. Danny hit the wall, cursing that he couldn't use his powers more openly in this fight.

"You really think you can beat me?" The grin of a mad man curved across the agent's face as he moved to tower over Danny's fallen body. "You're still just a pathetic loser." He raised a fist, preparing for a powerful punch. But before he could deliver the blow, Danny's leg shot out and connected with his groin. The agent gasped then wheezed a high pitch noise of pain as he bent over holding his crotch. Danny filed away that that still worked on a ghost overshadowing a human. The agent didn't get a chance to recover. Dash grabbed him by the throat then slammed him into the wall.

"Government official or not, I'm pretty sure attempted murder is still a crime," he growled, hand squeezing around the man's throat.

The ghost laughed through the man's body. "This isn't over yet." He grinned then his head bowed. Danny watched the ghost phase through the wall behind the man that he possessed, and his presence faded beyond Danny's range.

"You all right?" Dash spun the agent around then slapped handcuffs around his wrists. He tossed a glance Danny's way as he did so.

Danny stared at him in stunned silence. Outside, he heard police and ambulance sirens. When he shot a glance toward Kwan, he was glad he made that call. "I'm not the one you should worry about." Danny shot to his feet and darted into the kitchen. Luckily, a towel remained sitting out on the counter, eliminating the need to search the kitchen for where Kwan kept them. After he grabbed it, he hurried to where Kwan leaned against the wall. He bundled up the towel then pressed it to the stab wound. "Hang in there, Kwan!"

"Why'd you come back?" Kwan's voice was faded but strangled with pain.

Danny hated seeing the man like this, looking weak and fragile. "I got your call." His response earned a laugh from Kwan.

Dash joined Danny beside Kwan. They didn't need to worry about the agent, who was cuffed and still out cold, and the ghost wasn't anywhere nearby. "Thanks for coming back," Dash said, keeping his eyes on Kwan. "And don't listen to that joker." He pointed a thumb over his shoulder toward the Guy in White. "You're actually pretty bad ass."

Danny stared at Dash, wondering if he actually heard those words right. He dropped his gaze, feeling a strange sense of pride and happiness at being called bad ass by Dash.

The police arrived on scene only moments later. They would need to give statements and answer questions about what happened, but their first priority was getting Kwan to the hospital. The EMTs placed Kwan on a stretcher and carried him off to the ambulance. The police backup took the Guys in White agent into custody for questioning once he woke.

Danny stepped out into the hallway while Dash explained what happened to another pair of police. He smiled when he noticed Dash left out any mention that Danny Phantom showed up at the apartment. Pulling out his phone, he dialed a familiar number, as much as he hated to call the man.

"Ah, Daniel," Vlad greeted, and Danny knew the other half ghost was grinning. "And to what do I owe this call?"

Danny gritted his teeth, holding back a nasty remark. "I need something." He frowned, waiting for some snide comment, but Vlad waited silently for him to continue. Danny spoke again in a lower voice. "I need you to bring a pair of Specter Deflector belts to Amity General Hospital. I should be there soon to explain everything."

"Good. Because I will require a full explanation before I hand them over." Vlad ended the call without even offering a goodbye.

Danny sighed as he stuffed his phone into his pocket. He hated having to rely on the help of Vlad, but he couldn't contact his parents for this. He didn't want to explain what happened. The mention of a ghost would throw them into hunter mode, and he didn't want the embarrassment of them stalking Dash and Kwan in case that ghost returned, which Danny believed it would. He stepped back into Kwan's apartment then sighed when the other men turned their attention onto him.

Dash was finished with his telling of the events, which meant it was his turn. Danny launched into his side of the story, explaining how got the phone call from Kwan and what happened once he returned to the apartment. By the time he was finished, he felt drained, and starving.

"We should get him checked out at the hospital," Dash told the other cops as he stepped over to Danny. He took Danny's chin in his hand and tilted it up for a better look. "Might have a broken nose."

Danny touched his fingers to his nose and winced. Now that things were calmer, he could taste the blood on his lips. When he tried breathing through his nose, it hurt, so he settled for breathing through his mouth. "You don't look so pretty either," he grumbled and poked Dash in the ribs, earning the twinge from the other man. He frowned at that response. Dash had some bruising around the face, but Danny didn't realize he took some blows to his chest as well.

Since their statements were taken, the other two officers agreed that they probably should take a trip to the hospital to get checked out.

"You guys sure know how to throw a party," Danny mumbled to Dash as they followed the other officers down to their car. Dash cracked a smile at that comment.


	10. Chapter 10

The unexpected phone call surprised him. After the anger Daniel displayed during the previous call, Vlad didn't think the young half ghost would come to him for help. he told his secretary to reschedule his meetings for another day. Then he left work to head back to his castle. All his work on ghost related inventions was kept at his home where he could work on private projects without drawing an eye of suspicion.

Upon entering his secret laboratory, Vlad retrieved a pair of Specter Deflector belts that he tweaked a little from Jack's original design. He hated having to admit when the man actually invented something decent. Then he opened his Ghost Portal and flew into the Ghost Zone. If he exited through the Fenton Portal, he ran the risk of being discovered by Jack and Maddie. They worked relentlessly on new inventions, and Vlad never could be certain if his presence might set of some new ghost detection device that they created.

To eliminate that problem, he built a second Plasmius Portal in a secret laboratory under Axion Labs. He didn't worry about his employees there finding it because it was surrounded by several feet of steel and lacked any entry point for a normal human. Any ghost could easily reach the Plasmius Portal there, but he hardly worried about that.

When he passed through his other Portal, Vlad flew off immediately for Amity General Hospital. Daniel didn't sound hurt, or at least not dying, when he called, but Vlad felt worried that something happened to him. Skulker already reported one attack by the Guys in White. Did the organization make another attack on Daniel? Anger twisted inside him at the thought that the Guys in White may have hurt Daniel.

After finding a safe place, Vlad transformed back into a human. He strolled into the hospital to begin his search for the young half ghost. Daniel said he would be there shortly, and Vlad hoped that didn't mean the man was there due to some terrible injury to himself.

"Vlad!" Daniel came up to him before Vlad could reach the front desk. He sported bandages over his nose, but otherwise, the half ghost looked fine. "Let's head to the cafeteria to talk." Daniel led the way toward the elevators. "I'm starving. I want to grab something to eat before anything else can happen."

"Care to start explaining what happened?" Vlad narrowed his eyes at Daniel as the elevator doors slid shut.

Daniel sighed, rubbing tiredly at his forehead. Then he launched into the whole tale of what happened after he woke in Kwan's apartment, leaving out what exactly he was doing there in the first place. "So this ghost attacked them twice and really hurt Kwan," Danny finished as the doors opened on a different floor. The pair of men exited the elevator and headed toward the cafeteria. "It seems really determined to hurt them."

Vlad didn't miss the hesitation in Daniel's voice. The young half ghost didn't want to say out loud that the ghost's intention may be to kill the two men.

"The ghost isn't very strong yet, but I can't be there to constantly watch over them." Daniel ran a hand through his dark hair. "That's why I want them to have the Specter Deflector belts. The ghost wouldn't be able to touch them while they're wearing the belts."

"Well, I can certainly understand your concern," Vlad said once Daniel fell silent. The fact that the Guys in White showed up shortly after Daniel stopped the ghost's first attack worried him. How did they locate Daniel so quickly? Even if they ran patrols for Danny Phantom, they couldn't have found him that fast. "I'll take the belts to them."

Daniel frowned, clearly torn between finally getting the chance to eat and accompanying Vlad to speak with the two men. Hunger won. "They're on the fourth floor, third door on the right." He started toward the cafeteria then paused. "Thanks, Vlad."

"You can always call me for help, Daniel." Vlad smiled as Daniel turned and walked toward the cafeteria. _Even if you don't want my help_.

When he arrived on the fourth floor, Vlad walked down the hall until he found the room that Danny told him. He stood in the doorway, watching the pair of men inside the room. The dark haired man rested in the hospital bed, and from Daniel's story, Vlad determined that one was named Kwan. The man was pale and looked oddly frail despite his size, most likely a result of blood loss from the stab wound. For the moment, he slept peacefully. The blond man - Dash - sat beside the bed with his head in his hands. The two men were best friends, and Vlad could only imagine how difficult this was for Dash, even though the wound, according to Daniel, managed to miss anything vital. In a week or so, Kwan would be on his feet again.

Vlad coughed to gain the attention of Dash. When the blond man lifted his head, Vlad caught the bruising on his face. None of the three men escaped the fight without injury. He stepped into the room, closing the door behind him. "My name is Vlad Masters."

"No duh." Dash stared flatly, no in the least bit impressed. "I think everyone knows who you are."

An eyebrow twitched upward, but Vlad let the rudeness slide. He wanted to hold this conversation before Daniel decided to make an appearance. "I've already heard Daniel's explanation of the events that happened."

Dash's brow drew together as he frowned at the man. "Why exactly are you here?"

"Daniel was worried." Vlad glanced at the man in the bed. "I'm inclined to believe he's right." He found a second chair in the room and dragged it over to sit in front of Dash. "The Guys in White aren't exactly known for attacking humans. Their main priority is still the capture of-"

"Danny Phantom," Dash cut in with annoyance in his grating voice. "Yeah, I kind of figured that out when he started demanding we hand over Danny Phantom."

Vlad pursed his lips and tried very hard not to glare at the man for interrupting him. "We think a ghost possessed the agent of the Guys in White to attack the two of you."

"Danny Phantom would never do that!" Dash argued as he shot out of his chair. His eyes burned fiercely as they narrowed in a glare. "We helped him escape-" He clammed up, realizing his error. He clearly meant to keep that fact secret.

The corners of his mouth twitched. Vlad wondered how the man would react if he learned how Daniel used his powers to get pay back on the former jock and bully during high school. "I actually meant that there seems to be a random ghost out there that seems to have it out for the two of you," Vlad explained smoothly as Dash slowly returned to his seat. "Daniel wanted me to give these to you." He pulled out the Specter Deflector belts to show Dash. "While wearing these, a ghost won't be able to touch you."

Dash eyed the belts with a certain amount of skepticism. "Why would Fenton call you? Why not get his parents?"

Vlad held back a snort. "Would you want his parents staking out everywhere you go because of the mere mention of a possible ghost attacking you?"

Dash frowned at that all too likely scenario. "Point taken." With a sigh, he shook his head. "It certainly wouldn't help with my job." He leaned back in his chair as he folded his arms. "Was that all you wanted? To give us some silly belt thing?"

"Actually," Vlad laid the belts across his lap, "I wanted to go back to the topic of Danny Phantom. You're awfully quick to defend him, protect him even."

Dash's eyes narrowed such a small fraction that an unobservant person might miss it. Vlad could almost see the internal debate raging in those dark blue eyes. Dash tried to figure out how to respond, wondering about Vlad's motive. "He's a hero to this town, even if other people don't agree. I'll protect him a hundred more times from assholes who would seek to hurt him if I have to."

Vlad grinned. "I was hoping that would be your answer. I wish to protect him too, and as you might have noticed, the Guys in White are relentless in their pursuit of him. Which is why I have a proposition for you."

The uncertainty remained in Dash's eyes. "What's this proposition?" he asked warily.

"As you have guessed, I'm in possession of many ghost hunting devices." Vlad spread his arms to indicate the belts. "I wish to provide you with some of these inventions." He raised a hand to silence Dash when it looked like the man wanted to argue about something. "Think of this as killing two birds with one stone. Daniel may think these belts offer enough protection, but it's merely defensive. I imagine you're more the type to take the offensive."

Dash frowned, chewing on what Vlad said. "If by that you mean I want to kick the ass of that other ghost, the one that stabbed my best friend, then yes, I am."

"With my equipment, you'll be able to fight back against the ghost that seems to be targeting you." Vlad smirked. This man seemed like he would be as easy to manipulate into monitoring Daniel as it was to make that Gray woman work for him as a ghost hunter.

"And the second bird?"

"You'll be better suited to help protect Danny Phantom from the threat the Guys in White pose." Vlad watched the play of thoughts passing over Dash's face. Excitement flickered by when he thought of being able to help his hero. Vlad knew that would be a strong lure for the man after seeing how strongly he reacted to the mention of Daniel's ghost half.

"If he doesn't agree, he's an idiot," Kwan mumbled in a tired voice. Green eyes opened part way as the man glanced their way. "I'll help too." He winced as he shifted in the bed. "When the threat of reopening this wound is gone."

Dash released a soft chuckle as he shook his head. "If Kwan thinks it's a good idea, then I guess I'm in." He frowned and stared for a while at Vlad. "But what's your interest in helping Danny Phantom?"

"There are rogue ghosts causing problems for the living." Vlad glanced at Kwan. "As you've experienced. Danny Phantom is one of the few ghosts fighting to protect us all from those ghosts. As much as he would like to think he's capable of doing it all on his own, even he needs help at times. He needs someone there to watch his back. And who better to ask to help him them someone who believes so strongly in him?"

Dash watched the man, and after some time, he shrugged. "I'll trust you then."

"Excellent! I can have suits made for both of you within a week." Vlad passed the belts to Dash as he stood. "I'll contact you when it's ready." He bid the two men farewell as he left the room. The attack was quite unfortunate, could have resulted in a terrible end, but it provided him the proper motivation to gain the association of the two young men and ally them to his cause. He worried for Daniel's safety, and the young half ghost kept him at a distance. Vlad left the hospital, already making plans for how to best equip the two men.


	11. Chapter 11

Danny sighed as he dropped onto a bench at the park. Four days passed since the incident at Kwan's apartment. After he checked on Kwan, Danny went to their precinct's headquarters. By that time, the Guys in White agent was awake and being questioned. Danny sat in the observation room and watched a portion of the interrogation. Naturally, the agent refused to answer many of the questions, lied on the ones that he did answer, and only told the truth when he said he didn't stab Kwan. Danny found out later that they were forced to release the agent when the Guys in White came to collect their own.

_Of course he gets away_ , Danny thought bitterly. The rest of the officers at their precinct were angry about that as well. They didn't want the man that stabbed one of their own to skip out on a "get out of jail free" card because of the government. Danny knew it was a ghost that held the real responsibility for stabbing Kwan, not that he could come out and say that to the rest of the precinct though. "Possessed by a ghost" was no longer a valid excuse in Amity Park. Over the years since ghosts became a common occurrence of their daily lives, criminals would claim that they only broke the law because a ghost possessed them. While that may be true in some cases, it wasn't true in all cases. Unfortunately, that meant innocent people sometimes got locked up because of what a ghost made them do while they were overshadowed.

But Danny doubted the agent was completely innocent in the incident. The agent may not have been in control of his body when he stabbed Kwan, but he did attack Dash and Kwan before being overshadowed. Danny also preferred the idea of having one of the Guys in White agents locked up and out of commission for a while. He still couldn't understand why the agent didn't leave Dash and Kwan alone after he left. Did the agent assume that they knew Danny Phantom personally? But how did the agent find him so quickly? Danny leaned forward, putting his head in his hands. The questions kept circling in his mind, but he couldn't find any answers. The whole thing was distracting him from his work. He caught up to a few of his contacts, but none of them knew anything about a new dealer.

"Fenton?"

Danny jerked and lifted his head at the familiar voice. "Dash?" He blinked at the blond man decked out in a sweat suit. His hair wasn't slicked back as usual, and beads of sweat trickled down his face. "What are you doing here?" he asked dumbly, despite the obvious answer.

"I jog through this park every day." Dash bent over and flicked Danny on the forehead. When Danny grumbled and rubbed the sore spot, Dash chuckled. He moved to the side then dropped onto the bench. His arms rested on the back of the bench.

Danny sighed and leaned back. "Right. Sorry," he mumbled, feeling stupid for asking. "How's Kwan?" Sam and Tucker would probably question why he should even care after how the two jocks treated him in high school, but Danny cared. He wasn't the type of person to turn his back on someone that was hurt, no matter how terribly they treated him. It was his fault that Kwan got hurt. He was supposed to protect people, and he failed that day.

"He's doing better." Dash rubbed his forehead then dropped his arm back onto the bench. His fingers brushed Danny's shoulder. "He's taking it easy for now. He hates it, and so does his boss."

Danny cracked half a smile. "I hate being forced to take it easy too."

"So what's going on with you? You looked kind of gloomy."

Danny stared at him, wondering why Dash would even care. He turned his head away and gazed at the stretch of green before them. "I'm not making any headway on this case. The dealer's gone into hiding, and the supplier isn't making any new moves. At least that means no one else is using the drug right now."

"Or," Dash hesitated when Danny's head swerved back to him, "the supplier moved on to another town."

Danny frowned as he looked away again. It was an entirely plausible idea, but he hated to think it was correct. "Then the bastard got away." His hands squeezed tightly around his knees. He hated thinking that he let the supplier escape. "I wanted to nail this bastard," he muttered, and he was glad he faced away from Dash because he could feel the shift in his eyes. For a moment, his eyes glowed green.

"It almost sounds like you're taking this a bit personally," Dash said carefully. He removed his arms from the back of the bench and held them up defensively when Danny shot a glare at him. "Trust me. I understand wanting to catch the bad guy, but you can't always be the hero."

Danny stood suddenly, making Dash jump to his feet as well. He knew the man was trying to console him, which felt strange, but the comment struck a nerve. He was supposed to be the hero. He was Danny Phantom! Being the hero was pretty much his job description. But he couldn't tell Dash anything about that or even try to make the man understand. He started to walk away when Dash grabbed his arm.

"Whatever I said to upset you, I'm sorry."

The words took a while to process through his mind. Danny turned around and stared at Dash like he grew another head. "You're actually apologizing to me?" Was the world ending? He almost expected to see the four horsemen of the apocalypse riding through the sky above their heads.

Dash raked a hand through his blond locks, looking like an awkward teenager instead of a grown man. "I know I was a total ass to you in high school. I was an ass to a lot of people back then." He shrugged. "But you weren't so terrible to hang out with on Saturday, and you kicked that guy's ass for us. I owe you thanks for that." He laughed at something, not seeming to take notice of the flustered feeling consuming Danny presently. "I almost forgot about that time you led us all in that fight against those ghosts to get our parents back. You were pretty awesome back then too."

Danny shrugged awkwardly, feeling heat rise to his cheeks. What was he supposed to say when his high school bully started saying things like that? "Well, someone had to do something. And I was the one with ghost hunters for parents, so it made the most sense."

"A lot of people wouldn't have stepped up like that though." Dash looked away as he folded his arms. "I probably wouldn't have. I was totally freaking out."

Danny shifted his weight, looking anywhere but at Dash. The conversation took a sudden turn to weird. He still didn't know how to react when Dash was praising him for past deeds. But his mouth pursed slightly as he stared at the other man. "And yet, you continued to treat me like garbage."

Dash sighed, head dropping. "Like I said, I was an ass to a lot of people." Then he snapped his head up again to meet Danny's gaze. "And I didn't treat you like garbage the whole time. Okay," he rolled his eyes when Danny glared at him. "I wasn't nice to you, but I stopped tracking you down to beat you up after we entered junior year."

Danny opened his mouth to argue about that but paused. When he thought about it, he realized Dash had a point. His last two years of high school were relatively more peaceful than the first two years. Dash certainly didn't treat him like a friend, insulting him here and there whenever they passed each other in the hallway, but Danny recalled a lot less running away from the jock. He didn't get crammed into the lockers as much either.

"I guess you weren't so bad those last two years," Danny mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck.

"You can thank Kwan." Dash shrugged. "He reminded me that if I didn't start getting serious about school, I'd be repeating my last year and probably wouldn't get into a good college or get a good job. That, and he helped be find a better outlet for my anger."

"And what was that?" Danny almost laughed. What better outlet could Dash find than using him like a punching bag?

"Kwan has this uncle that knows tai chi, karate, judo." Dash's shoulders lifted briefly. "Some martial arts thing. Anyway, Kwan thought it would be good for me, so we started practicing that with his uncle. Anyway, it helped me get control of my anger, so when I got pissed off, I stopped taking it out on people around me."

Danny nodded understandingly. Fighting ghosts was a good source of stress relief for him. He reached up and rubbed the back of his neck. It was weird talking like this with Dash. They weren't fighting or throwing insults. How were they managing to have such a civil conversation with each other?

Dash seemed to realize that as well and looked away with an uncomfortable shift of his weight. "I was thinking of doing another movie marathon night this weekend. Usually we wouldn't have another for a while, like a month. But I thought after that whole thing with the Guys in White, Kwan might like a relaxing night of doing nothing but vegetating. We'll do it at my place this time though. Don't need Kwan spending hours in the kitchen making some big meal."

Danny laughed. "What's the deal with that anyway?"

"His family is always like that." Dash rolled his eyes with an exasperated look. "Every time I went over there, they always had to make a big meal, even when it wasn't necessary. And now that he's living on his own, Kwan does the same thing. No matter how many times I tell him a big five course meal isn't necessary, he just gives me that I have no idea what you're talking about look, like he's completely forgotten the conversation." He shook his head and chuckled. "Sometimes, I really don't understand what goes on in his head."

"It must be nice sometimes, though. I don't exactly do a lot of cooking myself." Most of what Danny ate involved microwaveable meals that he picked up from the convenient store near his apartment.

"Yeah, sometimes," Dash agreed. "But the point was, if you want to come, you're welcome to." His grin slanted across his face. "I'll even let you choose the theme of the night."

Danny blinked. Kwan said before that he wanted Danny to join them again, but Danny didn't expect Dash to be the one to bring it up and ask him to come to the next movie night. A chilly tingle alerted him to the presence of ghost. Danny needed to end this conversation quickly so that he could go deal with it. "I'll make sure to bring some good movies then."

"You better. If you bring something lame, you'll regret it."

Danny didn't doubt Dash would act on that promise. "You're the one that picked romantic dramas." He grinned at the scowl on Dash's face.

Dash rolled his eyes. "Then I'll see you Saturday. I should finish up my run."

"I should probably get back to work." Danny almost breathed a sigh of relief that he didn't have to think up some flimsy excuse to cut the conversation short. After their goodbyes, Danny stood as he watched Dash leave, jogging down the trail through the park. Then he turned down the opposite way and followed his ghost sense.

The ghost was female this time, dragging her feet as she walked the path toward Danny. Her long dark bangs hung down in her face, obscuring most of it but her nose and mouth. Danny wondered if he should transform but thought against it after the last two times resulted in the Guys in White appearing shortly afterward. The ghost didn't seem to be doing anything bad. Yet. He couldn't know her true intentions until he spoke to her.

"Hey," Danny called out, drawing her attention.

The ghost halted before him then lifted her head. Her bangs parted a little, showing off one red eye. "Who are you?" She backed up, looking suddenly spooked. "What do you want? I don't have any money!"

Danny blinked rapidly at that response. "Ah, no," he raised his hands as a sign that he meant no harm. "I wanted to know your intentions." Why would a ghost think he wanted money from it?

"What do you mean?" The ghost stuttered when she spoke. She backed away some more, almost seeming terrified that he would do something to harm her.

"I'm not going to hurt you." Danny didn't dare try stepping closer to her for fear it would spook her even more, causing her to flee. "I just need to know if you're here to cause trouble."

Confusion worked its way through the ghost's expression. But she didn't get a chance to speak again. When electrical currents suddenly danced across her being, she screamed out in agony, collapsing to the ground. Danny launched into action without thinking. He raced toward the ghost and looked for the source. It was a small device on her attached to her back, sending out waves of electricity. Danny grabbed it, holding back a shout as pain shot through his arm. His teeth ground together, and he cringed back as the electricity grew more intense with each passing moment. He tugged on the device with all his strength until it finally released itself hold on the ghost. It slipped from his grasp and landed on the ground. His strength was failing him. His eyelids grew heavy, his vision fading. A black booted foot appeared on the ground before him. Then Danny collapsed, no longer able to cling to consciousness.


	12. Chapter 12

The young agent working for the Guys in White crouched down next to the fallen man. A frown settled on his dark face. The man hardly looked much older than he was. With a careful nudge, he rolled the unconscious man over onto his back to get a better look at his face. Some bruising lingered around the nose, but the injury seemed to be healing well.

"What did you think you were doing?" the agent wondered out loud as he checked the fingers of the man's hand that ripped the marker chip free of the ghost. They were blackened after touching the device, not a surprising fact. This was Amity Park after all. It wasn't uncommon for the people to be victim of ghostly possession. But the marker meant something different this time. For other towns, the marker came in handy to determine the victims that came in contact with any ghost. They specially modified the marker to check the people of Amity Park. The black on the man's fingers meant that he came in contact with public ghost enemy number one, aka Danny Phantom.

His brown eyes drifted toward the ghost next to the unconscious man. What was this man's connection to ghosts? He didn't hear much of the discussion the dark haired man was having with the ghost, but from afar, it looked like the man was trying to calm the ghost. The agent couldn't recall anyone actually walking up to a ghost to talk with it. Either they were ghost hunters like him and attacked first or they were like the average citizen who ran away the moment a ghost appeared. What made this man so different?

His sensor alerted him to the attack. He shot away from the man and the ghost before the energy ball could hit him. Retrieving his ecto gun, he aimed at the ghost that appeared on the scene. His jaw nearly dropped when he spotted the familiar shock of white hair and the green eyes that glowed menacingly as the ghost glared at him. He was still fairly new to the organization, but he did all the research he could find on the ghost known as Danny Phantom. He never expected on his first real outing in Amity Park that he would run into the famous ghost.

"By order of the Guys in White, you're under arrest," the agent shouted, his hands shaking only slightly. "Come quietly, and don't do anything stupid."

Danny Phantom touched down on the ground. In two long strides, he closed the gap between them. His chest pressed against the barrel of the gun, almost daring the agent to fire it. A manic grin splayed over his face, madness dancing in those green eyes. The agent couldn't stop the tremor of fear coursing through him at that moment. This was the ghost that no agent ever managed to catch. Sometimes, he almost wondered why they wanted to catch him when all evidence suggested that Danny Phantom protected this town. But he had no rights to question his superiors. In the moment, he could almost believe that Danny Phantom was the villain the Guys in White painted him up to be.

"It would be wise for you to run now," Danny Phantom said, and the agent thought he almost caught a flash of red in those eyes. His voice promised pain if the agent stayed and tried to capture him.

The agent gulped nervously. His superiors could yell at him all they like for not capturing a wanted spectral criminal, but he didn't want to sacrifice his life. He was still so young! He still had a long life ahead of him. If he tried to fight this ghost, he could only see his loss. He lowered his gun.

"Good choice." Danny Phantom laughed quietly. "Now would be the time to run." A green glow appeared around one hand, and it was the only warning the agent needed.

After placing the gun back in its holster, the agent activated his jet pack. He took off into the air and started flying away from the park. Fear made him keep throwing glances over his shoulder, but Danny Phantom didn't give chase after him. It wasn't until he was far away from the park that it occurred to him that he shouldn't have left that man there. What if Danny Phantom hurt him? He remembered the marker on the man's fingers. It wouldn't be their first meeting. Perhaps Danny Phantom showed up for the sole purpose of protecting this human that didn't see ghosts as an enemy or something to fear. That only made him all the more curious about who exactly this man was. Perhaps it was time to start doing some new research. First item on the list would be discovering that man's identity.

 

"That will probably come back to bite me in the ass," Dan muttered once the Guys in White agent disappeared from his sight. He shifted his form from his Danny Phantom disguise, returning to his true, grand appearance. He never liked changing his appearance to resemble Danny Phantom, but it felt necessary in this instance. His gaze fell upon his younger half and he frowned. Could this side of him never stop getting into trouble?

Part of him still felt anger at his younger half for destroying the timeline that he originated from. But after spending nearly a decade trapped inside that infernal Thermos, he learned to let go of most of that anger. That was probably the most important reason that Clockwork even decided to release him from the Thermos.

He gritted his teeth, thinking of how much of a pet he became to Clockwork after being freed. But being a pet was better than being inside that Thermos. He was still allowed to cause some destruction in the Ghost Zone from time to time, after all. Getting to scare that newbie agent wasn't too bad either.

Crouching down, he searched this younger half until he found the Thermos that Danny kept on his person. "Strange being on the other side of this again." He pointed the Thermos at the other ghost and sucked her unconscious form inside it. His gaze fell upon the small square device lying on the ground as he capped the Thermos. Inching closer to it, Dan tentatively tapped a finger to it. He saw how it affected Danny and the random rogue ghost before, making him cautious. But the device didn't react to his touch. Perhaps it was a onetime use device and was spent after zapping Danny and the ghost, or maybe it didn't react because the Guys in White weren't there to activate it.

Whatever the case was, Dan picked up the device and pocketed it. Clockwork didn't mention anything about the device in his instructions, but Dan thought his older half might be interested in examining the piece of technology fashioned by the Guys in White. He scooped up his younger half and slung him over his shoulder. "Maybe I'm getting soft," he mumbled, shaking his head. For some reason, he couldn't just leave Danny lying unconscious in the park.

He returned Danny to his apartment, dropping the young half ghost none too gently on his couch. Danny would likely be confused when he woke, and Dan would enjoy a great laugh at his expense. But he had a job to finish. Dan stared at the Thermos in his hand. "Well, he'll figure it out at some point." He frowned at his younger half. "Maybe. I hope he's wised up in all these years." Dan took off toward the Ghost Zone to bring the ghost to Clockwork. This ghost made two, but there were still other ghosts that didn't belong, wandering the human world.

When he reached Clockwork's Tower, Dan tossed the Thermos to the Time Keeper. Clockwork caught it with seeming ease, though Dan wondered if he ever used his ability to stop time to make it look like he never failed to catch something. In all the time he dwelled in the Tower, Dan never saw Clockwork fumble or drop anything. But he guessed being the Master of freaking Time and knowing how and when every damn thing was going to happen tended to make one able to appear so damn perfect. It probably explained why Dan had this irritating desire to do something to royally mess with the Time Keeper. But anything he did would be seen by Clockwork and easily avoided. That only made him more frustrated.

"He's still as clueless as ever," Dan announced, crossing his legs as he floated in air.

"It's not time yet for him to realize what's going on." Clockwork took the Thermos over to a containment unit. After popping the top off it, he placed the Thermos to the entry point on the side of the unit. The woman's ghost left the Thermos to be trapped inside the containment unit where she would remain asleep.

Dan breathed out a frustrated sigh. "Can't you ever just make things easy?"

"I let you take the easy route when you decided to rid yourself of all the pain that human emotions bring after your family and friends died." Clockwork glanced over his shoulder, and a hint of a smirk ghosted across his features. "And look how you turned out."

"I turned out just fine." Dan scowled at him, wondering if the Time Keeper even realized how annoying he was.

"Of course you think that." Clockwork adjusted something on the unit. "But things aren't meant to be easy. Certain experiences are needed before one can accept things as they should be. Danny needs to play this out, or it will change the course of time."

Dan huffed out his frustration. The course of time was of little interest to him. He, after all, existed outside of time. He should have been completely erased from existence, but Clockwork kept him. Frowning, he watched the Time Keeper, wondering what grand plan Clockwork had in store for him. He hoped it wasn't simply to play his pet and run errands to maintain the proper flow of time.


	13. Chapter 13

Danny woke up with a start, panic seizing him immediately. The last thing he recalled was electric currents surging through his body as he tried to help the woman's ghost. Was that an attack by the Guys in White? Did they capture him? Could they have figured out his secret? The terrifying thoughts raced through his mind, his heart hammering in his chest.

When he glanced around, he expected to find he was locked in some laboratory and strapped down to an examining table. Instead he found he was back in his apartment. Danny raked a hand through his hair as he relaxed against the back of the couch. "How did I get back here?" he wondered out loud. He passed out in the park after that electrocution he experienced. Dash couldn't have brought him back from the park. He didn't even know where Danny lived now, and he already jogged off. Why would he have turned around to check on Danny? But who else was there? The Guys in White wouldn't bother to return someone to their home after a "ghost attack." That agent that appeared at Kwan's apartment actually attacked them, before being overshadowed.

He dropped his hand as he sighed. Too many questions kept popping up whenever the Guys in White attacked now. A frowned settled on his face as he dropped his gaze. It was his fault that Dash and Kwan were hurt at that time. Not simply because he left after they tried to protect him but because he was there at all. If he didn't show up, they never would have been hurt. But that wasn't exactly true either. If he didn't show up, that other ghost might have succeeded in its goal to hurt them.

"Maybe it's better if I don't go on Saturday," Danny thought, not wanting to cause them any more trouble. They had the Specter Deflector belts now, so that would keep them relatively safe. But he was torn. He did want to go. Dash even asked him to join them, even said he could choose the theme for the night. Danny drew up his knees and hugged them to his chest. How long was it since he actually wanted to hang out with people? Not since before high school graduation, he realized. He sighed as he rested his head against his knees.

After some time, Danny finally stood up and stretched his arms over his head. He wouldn't get anywhere if he spent the day holed up in his apartment dwelling on questions that he couldn't answer without more information. Digging his hand into his pocket, he grabbed his phone to check for any messages. How long was he out after that electrocution? Before he could check though, something caught his attention. He switched his phone to his other hand then stared at the fingers of his right hand. The pads of his fingers were strangely black. He ran his thumb over his fingers, but they didn't feel any different. Was this a normal occurrence after being electrocuted? He didn't really know. Usually when he received that kind of shock, he was in his ghost form. Should he be concerned about that? The questions continued to pile up.

"Maybe Skulker will know something," he mumbled. Skulker knew about the spectral neutralizer feature being added into the otherwise normal energy blasts. Danny checked for any messages on his phone but wasn't surprised when there was nothing. Then he made the call to the hunter.

"I told you already that I would tell you if there was any change," Skulker growled unhappily. "And for your information, this human meat sack remains as boring as watching paint dry."

"I wasn't calling about that." Danny sighed, still staring at his blackened fingertips. "There's another matter I wanted your advice on. It's about the Guys in White, and I would prefer you keep this to yourself."

"I'm listening, Ghost Child." Skulker's interest was piqued, but Danny suspected the conversation wouldn't remain between them like he wanted.

Danny frowned, knowing this would probably get back around to Vlad one way or another. "I came across a ghost in the park earlier, and with the recent activity of the Guys in White, I thought it best to approach as a human."

"That might be wise."

Danny glared at the interruption. "It didn't seem to matter because the Guys in White still showed up. The point was that they shot the ghost with this thing that shot out electricity. I ripped it off the ghost, but when I woke up, my fingers were black. Do you know anything about that?"

Skulker remained silent for a while, thinking over what Danny told him. "I'll have to take a look at it."

The response resulted in Danny pursing his lips. He preferred not to transform into his ghost form unless necessary if the Guys in White were able to track him down quickly. But he couldn't head over to the warehouse where Lucas hid without risking exposing himself. Even if he tried to keep out of sight, he might be spotted by someone that could alert Lucas that someone was lurking around his hideout.

"I'm on my way." Skulker spoke again, breaking up Danny's thought process.

"Wait! No!" Danny argued, but it was too late. He heard the dial tone through his phone and knew that Skulker was already on his way over to his apartment. He gritted his teeth as he squeezed his hand around his phone. It could be at this exact moment that Lucas finally made a move, and he wouldn't know because Skulker left his post. He could do nothing but wait for Skulker's arrival at the moment.

Danny entered the tiny kitchen that came attached with his apartment. Sometimes he wondered how the refrigerator even managed to fit inside it since the kitchen barely had the room to move around in it. He wasn't much of a cook though, so he decided the size of the kitchen didn't really matter. Opening the refrigerator, he bent over and glanced around at the meager offering the cool box provided. Leftovers from takeout and convenient store meals was all that filled his refrigerator, along with a carton of milk that might be close to expiring and a few bottles of beer.

"I hope they don't expect me to hold a movie night here." Danny sighed as he pulled out a box of sticky rice and one of the beer bottles. He didn't think he wanted to try his luck with the milk. Not only was his food and beverage selection fairly poor, but his television was laughable. Kwan had that nice wide screen television, and Danny suspected that Dash had an awesome entertainment system set up at his place, if it was anything like what he had in high school from that one time that Danny actually got invited to Dash's house.

Returning to the other room, he dropped onto the couch and dug into the sticky rice. It wasn't much of a meal, but it would do for now. The box was done with, as well a third of the beer, by the time Skulker phased into the apartment. Danny shot to his feet, pinning a glowing green glare upon the ghost.

"You were supposed to remain there to keep watch," he shouted in frustration. "What if he actually leaves while you're gone?"

"After all this time?" Skulker snorted at the suggestion. "I set up cameras. I'm getting sick of this stake out. If anything happens, you'll be able to monitor it from here." He detached something from ectoskeleton suit and tossed it Danny.

Danny caught the handheld monitor and stared at the screen featuring Lucas lying passed out on a couch in the warehouse while the television aired some random show in black and white. _Even he has a better television_ , he thought grumpily. He lifted his stare to Skulker. "You could have done this ages ago."

"I was hoping something exciting might actually happen." Skulker frowned, seeming as disappointed as Danny with the complete lack of action on the dealer's part. "There's a few different camera angles set up so you've got virtually the whole warehouse staked out. You won't miss anything taking place in any part of that place." He approached Danny and held out a hand, impatience flashing across his face. "Let me see you hand."

Danny put aside the monitor then held out his right hand. "It doesn't seem to have any effect on me," he explained as Skulker took his hand to examine the black marks. "But if it's some kind of tracker or something, I want to get rid of it. The Guys in White already show up too fast when I transform. I don't need them getting smart and figuring out who the other half of Danny Phantom is."

Skulker lifted his gaze to fix upon Danny's chest. "No, we definitely don't want that happening," he agreed, and there was almost a hint of pain in his expression. "Both Plasmius and I worry a great deal about you."

Danny shifted awkwardly under that gaze. "I can take care of myself, you know."

Skulker reached out to place a hand on his chest, and Danny flinched away. "But sometimes you can't."

His teeth hurt from grinding them so tightly. "Is this mark anything to worry about?"

Skulker sighed as he stood up straight. "It's not a tracker." He folded his arms as he frowned at Danny's hand. "It seems to be a reaction as a result to coming in contact with that device. I would have a better idea if I got my hands on it and gave it a look. I don't suppose you kept it?"

"I was a bit unconscious." Danny closed his hand, hiding the black marks on his fingers. Another scar of his life that he would need to keep hidden from the world? How many scars did that make? He lost count over the years. "If it's anywhere, you'd probably find it in the park."

"You didn't think to pick up after waking up in the park?"

"I woke up here." Danny still couldn't think of an explanation for that. "That ghost is long gone now, and I can't think why the Guys in White wouldn't take me in as well. I was caught in the presence of a ghost."

Skulker's eyes narrowed as he observed Danny, like he was searching for answers within the half ghost's body. The news didn't sit well with him. "You were mysteriously moved from the park to your home?" He glanced around the small area. "It doesn't seem like they had to break in to return you. Perhaps another ghost happened along to help you, one that knows your identity."

"Vlad?" It was the only name that popped into Danny's mind based on what Skulker said. Vlad certainly showed enough concern to want to ensure that Danny didn't end up in the hands of the Guys in White. But the idea of Vlad spying on him again made his skin crawl. He still remembered finding out that Vlad used Valerie's ghost hunting suit to monitor him, and the thought turned his stomach unpleasantly.

Skulker shook his head. "Plasmius is in Wisconsin presently."

"Not helping." Danny glared at him. But if Vlad wasn't the one to step in and help him, who did? All the unanswered questions were starting to make his head hurt. "Well, that's all I wanted to know about. If I come across that thing again, I'll remember to swipe it so you have something to work off next time."

"Hopefully not at the risk of capture." Skulker started toward the wall. "Do keep alert, Ghost Child. Don't jump into unnecessary danger if you can avoid it." He phased out of the apartment.

Danny frowned at the spot where Skulker disappeared. Was trying to help that ghost an unnecessary danger? He supposed it was, though he couldn't simply sit back and let the Guys in White take that ghost. He failed on that point. But what would he have said to the agent if he didn't fall unconscious? Maybe he did need to be more cautious when it came to dealing with ghosts.


	14. Chapter 14

Dash entered his apartment, dropping his keys on the little table near the door. After kicking the door shut, he made his way to his kitchen to drop the bags on the counters. He needed to stock up on chips and dips and beer for the movie marathon tonight. "Hope Fenton has good taste in movies," he mumbled as he put the beer in the refrigerator. It was too late to change that now. But he was still surprised to realize that he actually wanted Fenton to join them.

That first time, he wasn't sure he wanted anything to do with Fenton. But seeing the other man come charging into the apartment to help them really changed his opinion of the man. Dash didn't know why he forgot about that time in freshmen year. The memory sat dormant in the back of his mind until he ran into Fenton in the park. Fenton was a lot braver than Dash gave him credit for in the beginning.

"Maybe I shouldn't have been so quick to judge him," Dash said as he left his kitchen. "Pfft! Now I'm sounding like Kwan." He rolled his eyes, remembering conversations with his best friend. Kwan never understood why Dash zeroed in on Fenton freshmen year and started bullying him every chance he got. Dash couldn't really explain it either. Despite what Fenton thought, it really was for the best in the end.

When he entered his bedroom, Dash paused as his eyes fell upon a package sitting on his bed. Frowning, he approached the package cautiously. Where did this come from? How did it get in his apartment? On top of the package was a letter addressed to him. Dash eyed the letter warily before he picked it up. He examined the envelope, but nothing looked out of the ordinary with it. After tearing the envelope open, he took out the letter inside and unfolded it.

_Dear Mr. Baxter,_  
I finished the equipment as promised at our last meeting. I hope everything is to your liking. I've included a suit for Mr. Long as well, but I hope you will hold onto it until Mr. Long has made a full recovery. I feared he might push himself too soon if given to him directly.  
Vlad Masters 

"Smart man," Dash mumbled as he folded up the letter. As smart as Kwan was, Dash knew his friend would jump right into helping Danny Phantom at first chance before he even fully recovered from the stabbing. But how did Masters manage to get the package inside his apartment? That was a head scratcher for him. He started to pry open the box when he heard a knock on the door. "Guess I'll have to check things out later." He carried the package to his closet and shoved it inside. He wouldn't want Kwan or Fenton finding it lying out in plain sight.

Dash left his bedroom and crossed toward the door of his apartment. He knew exactly who he would find waiting out in the hallway. When he opened the door, he greeted his guest with a wide smile, but he was surprised to see Kwan and Fenton arrived together. He lifted an eyebrow at the pair.

"Look who I ran into on the way up," Kwan announced cheerily, dropping his hands onto Fenton's shoulders.

Dash didn't miss the small, involuntary flinch the moment Kwan's hands touched him. He almost laughed, seeing that Fenton was still scared of them. "Come on in." He stepped aside to let the two men into his apartment. Kwan headed immediately for the kitchen, and Dash shook his head.

After he entered the apartment, Fenton made a face as he looked around the place. "Okay. We're definitely never doing this at my place." He folded his arms, making the plastic bag he carried rustle with the action. His eyes were set on the large television seated on a fancy entertainment unit that Dash's parents bought him when he moved into his apartment.

Dash nudged the door shut with his foot. "Embarrassed about your place?" He smirked at the color that rose to Fenton's cheeks. The answer to that question was clear. "So what's the theme tonight?" He snatched the bag from Fenton and flipped through the movies that Fenton brought. "Sci-fi?"

"I was thinking space adventure." Fenton shrugged awkwardly, almost like he worried he would get yelled at for his theme.

Dash rolled his eyes. "Could have been worse," he decided as he dropped the bag on his coffee table. He couldn't say that he and Kwan always picked the greatest movies. But sometimes terrible movies could be good too. They were usually a good source of comedy when they started cracking jokes about what was happening in them. "Get out of the kitchen, Kwan." He stuck his head through the door and glared at his friend, who was searching through the refrigerator.

"I was just grabbing the beers." Kwan pulled out a six pack and grinned innocently.

Dash didn't buy it as he grabbed his friend and shoved him out of the kitchen. After pulling down a large bowl, he filled it was chips then carried it and some of the dips back into the other room.

"How have you been since the, um," Fenton said, his eyes dropping to the spot where Kwan was stabbed only a week ago.

"Better." With a sigh, Kwan dropped onto the couch. He rubbed the spot, and his frustration could be seen on his face. "Doctors think I should be good in a couple days. It was deep, but," he shrugged, "it didn't do any big, horrible damage inside. They're just worried I'll over do things and pull the stitches."

"That's because you will, dork." Dash placed the bowl on the table along with the tubs of dips. He grabbed one of the movies at random from the bag.

"Well, I'm glad it wasn't worse," Fenton said, rubbing at his neck.

Dash paused before he put the movie in, staring at the title of it, something about pirate astronauts. The full title didn't matter. He glanced over at Fenton, and his mouth curved downward. "Didn't you always want to be an astronaut?" He wasn't sure why he knew that, but the memory poked its way to the front of his mind. What was Fenton doing here working as an undercover cop? "I thought you got into some college in North Carolina or Florida or something?"

Some emotion that Dash couldn't quite identify crossed Fenton's face. Sadness? Regret? Bitterness? Anger? It all jumbled together in that one look, and Dash wondered if he shouldn't have asked about it. Then Fenton shrugged, his expression clearing of all those emotions.

"I did, but I wasn't eligible in the end." Fenton made it sound like it wasn't a big deal, but Dash didn't believable his easy dismissal. "What about you? I thought I heard you got accepted to colleges in New York and California."

"It was Oregon and Illinois," Dash corrected, bristling slightly as he frowned. "But only if I wanted to go on a football scholarship. I didn't care about playing football in college, and I felt like staying here."

"You did?" Fenton's eyebrow lifted, baffled entirely by Dash's decision. "Why?"

"I've never gotten a straight answer out of him about that," Kwan commented, leaning toward Fenton.

Dash shrugged as he shoved the movie into his player. Then he joined the other two on the couch. He didn't really have a specific reason for choosing to stay in Amity Park when he had the opportunity to escape to some other state. In freshmen year, he couldn't wait to get out of Amity Park, especially when ghosts started appearing. But who knew what changed in the following years before they graduated? Maybe there was that sad part of him that wanted to stay because of Danny Phantom. If he left Amity Park, he would never get to see his hero again. But he didn't want to admit that even to Kwan.

"So," Fenton said thoughtfully as the movie start, "you both decided to stay here. What happened to Paulina?"

"Still crushing on her?" Kwan nudged Fenton in the ribs, grinning teasingly.

"No." Fenton sank lower on the couch, but his cheeks were rosy pink.

Dash laughed at the expression. It wasn't surprising since Paulina was still considered the most desirable woman from their class. Even he tried dating Paulina at one point, but mostly it was expected of them to be together since he was the quarterback and she was the head cheerleader. Paulina was the one to break it off, though Dash couldn't remember what the reason was.

"She's in Los Angeles," Kwan explained. "Something about an acting career, I think it was."

"Maybe she'll run into Tucker. Last I heard, he was trying to start a singing career and was living in Los Angeles."

Both of the former jocks burst into laughter at that announcement. "Foley?" Dash managed between bouts of laughter. "But he was horrible at singing!"

"Freshmen year, yeah," Fenton agreed, taking a slightly defensive tone. "But he got a lot better once his voice stopped cracking. I think he could probably make it."

"Hey, hey! Don't get mad." Kwan reached over, placing a hand on Fenton's head and giving his dark locks a ruffle. "We only have that one time in freshmen year to judge him on. It's not like we ever heard him singing again after he botched up Ember's concert."

Dash made a face at the mention of that. He still remembered that Manson girl kissing him while they were all backstage, but he couldn't recall what led up to it. Shaking his head, he tried to bury that memory again. He leaned forward and swiped one of the beers from the pack. As he settled back on the couch, something caught his attention. Fenton had black marks on his fingers that matched the ones that Kwan still had, and the black mark that was still on Dash's chest after being hit with that chip thing the Guys in White agent threw at him. Why did Fenton have that mark? Dash didn't remember Fenton getting shocked by that chip thing. The puzzling fact kept him distracted as the other two men focused on watching the movie.

There were many questions that Dash wanted to ask Fenton about, but he couldn't seem to work up the courage to do so. Would Fenton even give him a straight answer for how he knew the agent was possessed by a ghost? Dash put the thoughts away. He didn't experience another ghost attack since last Saturday, and the Guys in White didn't come barging into his apartment. Maybe there really wasn't anything to worry about. He turned his attention to the movies, which weren't actually all that bad. Fenton kept rattling off random factoids about astronauts, like he didn't even realize he was speaking. Dash cracked a smile when Fenton made complaints about the inaccuracy in a movie. Fenton was ineligible to become an astronaut? Dash couldn't believe that. The man was like a walking encyclopedia of all things related to astronauts and space.


	15. Chapter 15

He sighed as he walked down the street, opting for casual clothing over his all white uniform. He didn't want to be recognized as an agent for the Guys in White, but being the first time that he would be working undercover, he worried that he would completely botch the job. The agency didn't know anything about what he was up to; in fact, today was his day off from work. Somehow, they didn't find out about his encounter with Danny Phantom, and he didn't bother to report it. It would make for a terrible impression when he only recently was transferred to the Amity Park headquarters.

Over the days since his first and only encounter with Danny Phantom, he spent his time researching the man that saw in the park. It took him a while of running through the police's database, that he hacked into, to discover the man's identity. He did so without the knowledge of the Guys in White and using his own computer to avoid alerting the rest of the agency to his activity. If the man was innocent, why did the rest of the agency need to have their eyes drawn to the man?

Daniel Fenton, that was the man's name. Despite his high aspiration to become an astronaut, he ended up working as an undercover cop. His current case involved him acting as a drug addict under the alias of Peter Barton. He was currently tracking down the supplier of a drug that landed around six or seven people in the hospital so far. All the victims remained in a comatose state, though none of the cases were fatal yet. On the surface, his information sounded average. He had an older sister named Jasmine who currently lived in Washington D.C. His friends, Tucker Foley and Samantha Manson, lived in California and New York, respectively. They contacted the man only sparsely, the last being a little over a week ago by Jazz, though records showed that the call went unanswered.

His curiosity about Danny increased when he looked into the man's parents. Jack and Maddie were ghost hunters, quite famous here in Amity Park. Being from out of town originally, he never heard of them and had yet to meet them. They were also a known associate of Vlad Masters, who was a billionaire out of Wisconsin. Vlad also worked on ghost related inventions, having a division in his Amity Park company, Axion Labs, that devoted itself to tinkering with such inventions. After looking into some of the work that the trio did on ghost hunting equipment, he determined they were similar to the Guys in White in their approaches to ghost: attack first and capture the ghost. Questions could be answered later once the ghost was contained.

Having grown up with ghost hunters for parents, why did Danny approach a ghost like he was more interested in speaking to it than capturing it? Granted, when he thought about it, they probably would have better luck learning more about ghosts if they confronted them on friendly terms and gained their trust. He only sat in on a few experiments that were done on the ghosts they managed to capture, and they made him sick to think about. Some nights, he could still hear the ghosts' screams in his dreams, and it kept him up until the early hours of the morning.

Could Danny have similar memories after watching his parents work? Did he wake up in a cold sweat in the night after suffering the horrors done to the ghosts? Thinking like that, he could understand why Danny might wish to commune with the ghosts, maybe warn them of what awaited them if they stayed in this town where ghost hunters lay in wait to capture them. But he was only making assumptions based on the information he uncovered so far. To understand the man better, he would have to meet with him and talk to him. But he doubted Danny would be open with him if he mentioned that he worked for the Guys in White.

He glanced up from his newspaper and spotted Danny walking down the street, a tired look about his face. Now would be a good chance to make a first encounter with the man. But how should he go about it? He wanted to befriend Danny so that he might be willing to speak to him, but that wouldn't happen by simply bumping into him. How could he make the man like him enough to want to talk for a while? To meet again and get to know each other better? Perhaps he wasn't cut out for this type of work.

He wouldn't get anywhere though if he sat there debating how to get things done. Steeling his nerves, he dropped his gaze to the newspaper, pretending to be engrossed in it as he positioned himself in the man's way. In only a few steps, they collided with one another. Danny caught his arm, helping to steady him.

"I'm so sorry," he said immediately as he lifted his gaze to meet the man's eyes.

"It's all right. But you probably shouldn't be walking around with your nose in a newspaper," Danny said, amusement in his blue eyes.

He laughed weakly. "Right. I just got so wrapped up in reading this article." He folded up the paper and tucked it under his arm. "I feel bad. Maybe I could buy you a drink?" The uncertainty on Danny's face made him wonder if that wasn't appropriate in this situation. What should he have said instead? His training with the Guys in White didn't prepare him for causal interaction with a person of interest. Their interests were mainly in ghosts.

"A drink?" Danny scratched the back of his head. "I hope you mean coffee or something. It's a little early in the day for a beer."

He gave a shaky laugh. "Coffee, of course." He held out a hand then. "I'm Darren Margon."

"Danny Fenton." He shook the hand with a friendly smile. "I don't think I've seen you around before. Are you new here?"

"Recently moved here." Darren shoved his hands into his pockets, feeling awkward and uncertain of how to act. But he thought if he didn't hide his hands, he would start to fidget and cast suspicion upon himself.

"Welcome to Amity Park then. I hope you like it here." Danny glanced around like he expect to see something. "Despite any weirdness you might come across." He stepped around Darren. "There's a nice little coffee shop up the street."

Darren stood stunned. Did his ploy really work? Was Danny gullible or just a genuinely nice guy? He hurried to catch up with Danny before he disappeared into the crowd walking the street. He followed Danny into the coffee shop, and his nerves were getting the better of him. Would Danny simply wait for him to buy the drink then leave immediately? That would hardly help him gather more information on the man.

Danny ordered a simple black coffee. After placing his order for a caramel latte, Darren paid for the drinks. They stood off to the side while they waited for their drinks to be ready. The shop had a small crowd gathered inside, making quite a bit of chatter as they talked among their different groupings.

"So what brings you to our little spot on the map?" Danny asked as he leaned against the counter. He was of average height, and his build was still a bit lanky. He wasn't beefed up with muscles, but Darren could tell he possessed lean muscles under his clothing. The man kept in decent shape. "A job?"

Darren was relieved to see that the marker chip didn't cause any lasting damage to the man. The black marks on his fingertips, however, remained as expected. The marker was meant to last so that the Guys in White would be able to identify those that had some connection to their most wanted ghost. Those with the mark could try to hide it, but the Guys in White would still be able to easily spot it.

"Still looking for one, actually," Darren answered, grasping at a story to spin for the man.

An eyebrow quirked upward as Danny folded his arms. "You didn't transfer here?" When Darren shook his head, Danny frowned. "Then why would you come here? I mean, this isn't a bad place to live," he said hurriedly, "I just never thought people moved here _then_ looked for a job."

Darren tugged on an earlobe. "Well, I heard from someone I met in New York that Amity Park was pretty well known for its ghostly haunts." He glanced at Danny to gauge his reaction. When he saw the color drain from Danny's face, he worried that he pressed the topic too soon. "I've always had a bit of a fascination with ghosts, so if this place truly does have quite a few haunted spots, I thought it would be an interesting place to live."

Danny was silent for quite some time, and Darren almost thought he saw panic flash in his blue eyes. "Well, they do like to say Amity Park is the most haunted town. Maybe you'll get lucky and see a ghost." His smile was forced this time as he turned to accept his coffee from the woman.

Darren took his latte, feeling like kicking himself. What did he expect to happen? That after he mentioned some interest in ghosts, Danny would launch into a hundred tales of his encounters with ghosts? He was a fool if he thought that. Now he probably scared the man off, and Danny would be wary of speaking to him further on the topic. But he couldn't let the man escape! He needed to think of a way to get Danny interested in telling him something, anything, that he knew.

"You seem like you've lived here for quite some time. Maybe you could show me around to some of the best local haunts." Darren gave the man a hopeful look.

Danny frowned at his cup of coffee, probably debating how to respond to the request. "I guess," he said, uncertainty thick in his voice, "I could point out a place here or there. But I wouldn't get your hopes up. People might say the places are haunted, but sometimes it's just some kid playing a joke."

"I'm sure it'll be interesting to check the places out regardless." Darren took a sip of his latte as he observed Danny. "I haven't exactly met a lot of people here yet." That was no lie. Since his arrival in Amity Park, all he did was train and patrol for the Guys in White. Working at the agency didn't lend itself to having a social life. He was inclined to believe that they actually frowned on such a thing, which made the idea of a long career there seem a little depressing. He had lots of friends when he lived in Boston. That probably explained the loneliness he felt ever since he moved.

Danny must have caught some sign of that on his face. "There are plenty of friendly people here," he said, like he was trying to cheer Darren up. "And once you get a job, I bet all your co-workers will make you feel like part of their family."

Darren wished that was true. His superiors only barked orders at him, and his peers didn't care for idle chatter. It was difficult to feel like he fit in with the rest of the agents. "Maybe," he agreed with a pathetic laugh. "First I need to find a job though."

"Then you need to get out there and start looking." Danny patted a hand on Darren's shoulder. "I should probably head back to work myself."

"Ah!" Darren placed his latte on the counter. Then he fumbled to pull out his phone, his private one that wasn't connected with the Guys in White. "We should exchange numbers. Then you can call me about seeing those haunted spots."

Hesitation passed through Danny again. He placed his coffee on the counter and retrieve his phone from his pocket. After they exchanged numbers, Danny said his goodbye, grabbing his coffee before he left the shop. Darren stared at Danny's number in his phone's directory. That didn't go too badly! He wouldn't be surprised if Danny had his guard up now around him, but at least he had a pretense for meeting with the man again. It could have gone a lot worse. He pocketed his phone and picked up his latte. He didn't have much to do until later in the evening when he was scheduled for patrol. He found a table to sit at and pulled out his newspaper to relax for the rest of the morning.


	16. Chapter 16

Danny frowned as he left the coffee shop. Already, regret came over after agreeing to show Darren to some of the haunted spots of Amity Park. What was he thinking? But what could he really say? He didn't want to appear weird by refusing right off the bat like he had something to hide. A normal person probably wouldn't mind showing someone new around town. He could remember the time that Vlad set up that million dollar reward on his head and Tucker launched his Boo-Yah Tours to show all the wannabe ghost hunters to all the most haunted spots.

"Maybe he'll forget about," Danny mumbled, hoping but doubting that would be the case. Darren didn't seem like that bad of a guy, but Danny couldn't help feeling a little cautious after the man brought up an interest in ghosts. Something about the whole meeting seemed a bit suspicious to him. Darren looked like a completely normal person though, dressed in casual clothes. He didn't have that look of a Guy in White, though a little on the awkward side. Danny wasn't one to talk about that. He still felt like an awkward teenager sometimes.

Danny pulled out the monitor that Skulker gave him to start speeding through the footage from the surveillance set up at the warehouse where Lucas was still hiding out. How long could this man stay in one place without doing anything but eat and watch television? He was surprised the man didn't simply die of boredom. If he was stuck constantly watching Lucas, Danny thought he probably would have died by now. He couldn't blame Skulker for giving up on staking out the warehouse. Even for a ghost, it was dead boring to watch. Perhaps it was time to completely give up on Lucas. Following that lead was getting him nowhere, but no word of another dealer was spreading through his contacts. No new cases of people being found in a comatose state after using the drug popped up.

Danny's jaw clenched tightly. Did the supplier move onto another town? Did Dash trying to arrest the dealer spook the supplier into running away from Amity Park? He knew he couldn't get every criminal that turned up in their town, but something about this case made him want to catch the supplier. The drug baffled the doctors. After all their tests on the victims, none of the doctors could give a definitive answer for what exactly was in the drug.

He almost jumped when he felt something buzz against his hip, pulling him out of his thoughts. "Oh, right. Phone." Danny grabbed his phone, taking a brief moment to check the caller. "What is it now, Vlad?" He sighed tiredly, and slightly annoyed, as he shoved the monitor into his pocket.

"I had a chat with Skulker," Vlad explained, and Danny felt his eye twitch.

"Are there no ghosts I can trust not to run immediately to you?" Danny kept his voice low to avoid drawing the attention of people walking past him on the street. It was frustrating that he didn't have anyone to trust that wouldn't report to Vlad.

"They do it simply because they're concerned about you."

"I'm not some stupid little child that constantly needs to be protected."

"I know." Vlad's tone almost made Danny believe him. "You can be quite an intelligent young man. But you have this tendency to leap into a situation without fully thinking through the consequences of your actions."

"So in other words, you think I was stupid for trying to help the ghost." Danny shot a cautious glance around in case anyone overheard his comment.

"I think," Vlad started slowly, like he was picking his words carefully, "you could have come up with a better solution in the situation. You placed yourself in a risky spot trying to protect that ghost. You passed out with the enemy right in front of you. You could have woken up to find yourself in a place you really don't want to be."

Danny frowned, his gaze darkening. "So it was you that carried me back to my apartment after that, wasn't it?" He wished they weren't talking on the phone so that he could blast the man.

"No." Vlad's response surprised him. "You had another helper to save you from that fate."

"Skulker?"

Vlad released a frustrated breath. "No, I meant Dan." He spat it out like he couldn't believe Danny couldn't piece things together.

Danny halted, not even noticing when someone walking behind him bumped into him. Dan saved him? The thought was mindboggling to him. But Dan wouldn't simply step in to help him out of the kindness of his heart, which meant that Clockwork instructed him to stop the Guys in White agent from taking him, and probably the ghost. "How did you know it was him?"

"I was getting to that before you interrupted me. I also had a chat with Dan."

"Oh, I bet that went well." Danny grinned, imagining how Vlad would deal with their evil fusion from another time line. If Vlad thought he was annoying, Danny imagined he would be even more annoyed with Dan. When Vlad stayed silent, Danny winced. "Sorry. Go on."

"Dan dropped off this chip device that he found at the scene when he stepped in to stop that agent from taking you and the ghost."

_So that's what happened to it_ , Danny thought. After his chat with Skulker, he returned to the park to check if the device was still there but found nothing. He worried that the agent took it with him.

"I've analyzed it," Vlad continued, sounding rather perturbed by his findings. "It's a marker, but not just an ordinary one. It's keyed into your ecto signature. That mark that you showed Skulker was an indicator that you've come into contact with Danny Phantom."

"Obviously," Danny muttered. He stared at the black marks on his fingers that didn't seem to wash away no matter how hard he tried to rid himself of it. He remembered seeing similar marks on Kwan's fingers. "Oh." He clamped his eyes shut and rubbed at them. "That might be why that agent didn't just leave. They marked Kwan. I've overshadowed both Kwan and Dash more than once in the past. They've been overshadowed by other ghosts too."

"That may indeed be the case. They are determined to capture you, and if they saw that those two men have had contact with you, they'll be very interested in finding out what those men know. And now they can start looking at you too, since you've been marked as well."

The phone almost slipped from his grasp as a sinking feeling dropped inside him. Now Danny understood why Vlad thought his actions weren't the brightest. He just gave the Guys in White a reason to keep eyes on his human identity. "What do I do?" The Guys in White were ruthless in their pursuit, but they weren't exactly geniuses. Danny managed to keep them away from his family and friends only through the use of the Reality Gauntlet. That option was no longer available to him. What if they finally managed to realize that he _was_ Danny Phantom?

"You may owe thanks to Dan for keeping your identity safe. When he appeared before the agent, he came disguised as Danny Phantom. The agent likely believes you are two separate entities after seeing you and Dan at the same time."

Danny was dumbfounded. He hated that Dan would take his appearance, but he was also relieved that Dan provided proof to the Guys in White would take as belief that he wasn't Danny Phantom. "He was only doing it because Clockwork ordered him to." He raked a hand through his hair. "Was that all you needed to tell me?"

"I thought you would be interested in that bit of information. Perhaps you'll be a bit more careful now."

"Yeah, yeah." Danny shoved his phone back into his pocket as he walked down the street. At least one mystery was cleared up. He rubbed his thumb over his fingertips. The Guys in White hadn't tracked down Dash or Kwan to bring them in for questioning. As far as he could tell, the ghost seemed to be quiet as well. Danny didn't like when his enemies kept in the shadows before making their attacks. He wanted to be prepared for when they next appeared, but he didn't have any idea what they were planning for their next moves.

_Well, for now, I should really focus on my case_ , Danny thought, trying push aside thoughts of ghosts and the Guys in White. He still had a job to do, and he wasn't accomplishing anything while obsessing over the mystery of what his enemies were planning. _If I can't find out anything more about a new dealer, I'm just going to have to go confront Lucas_ , he decided. He wasted too much time waiting on Lucas to make a move or his supplier to contact him. It was probably pointless to talk to the other dealers again, but maybe they would have some new information for him by now.

As he turned down another street, Danny halted. _Oh, you have got to be kidding me!_ He could sense a ghost nearby, but there were too many people around for him to transform. Following his sense, he found the ghost in an alley as he leaned against the wall with his head in his knees. Danny glanced around, but everyone seemed to pass by the alley without giving it a second look. He approached the ghost and crouched down beside it.

"I need you to come with me," Danny said awkwardly. Perhaps Skulker was wise in taking that portable portal from his parents' laboratory. He wouldn't need to pay a visit to his parents' house to return the ghost to the Ghost Zone. At least this ghost didn't seem hostile like some of the other ghosts he dealt with.

The ghost lifted his head, and his dead gaze locked onto Danny. "I feel weird, man." His voice was shaky. He dropped his gaze to his hands, holding them out before him. "My body feels weird. It's all tingly." He snapped his gaze back up to Danny, fear breaking through the emptiness. "Feels like I'm disappearing, man."

Danny frowned as the ghost's hands faded out of sight and he started freaking out over it. The ghost was acting more like a human having a really bad trip after doing drugs. "Calm down," Danny ordered, shooting a glance toward the entrance of the alley. He didn't need people coming to see why the ghost was screaming his head off. "That's just one of your ghost powers."

"Ghost powers?" the ghost gasped out, paling at that announcement. "What do you mean ghost?"

_Hello, déjà vu_. Danny rubbed a hand over his face. Two ghosts who didn't realize they were ghosts? "I mean you're a ghost. But I need to take you to the Ghost Zone because if you stay here, you'll be in danger." He reached for the Thermos that he always kept with him.

Life sparked in the ghost's eyes as rage suddenly exploded through him. That was a reaction Danny often expected upon telling a ghost that they died. Some were passive, accepting it, while others turned to anger. Hands, stronger than he would think them capable of, seized his throat. The Thermos dropped from his grip as the ghost tackled him to the ground. He risked a glance toward the street, but no one was giving them any notice. With a hand placed against the ghost's chest, Danny released a small energy ball, using only enough power to knock the ghost off him.

Once free, Danny jumped to his feet and raced down the alley, knowing the ghost would follow. At the end of the alley was a dumpster with the lid open. Danny vaulted into it, letting the top slam shut on him. Now out of sight, Danny used the opportunity to transform. A moment later, the ghost phased his head through the dumpster. Danny seized hold of the ghost then shot through the top of the dumpster. The ghost struggled as Danny lifted him high over the buildings. An aerial fight usually meant that he didn't have to worry about hitting innocent people.

"I am not a ghost!" he shouted, managing to throw Danny off him with a strong force.

Danny didn't learn to do something like right away. "I know it's hard to accept. But if you weren't a ghost, you wouldn't be floating right now." He folded his arms as he watching the ghost glance down with a frightful look. "This world isn't exactly safe for ghosts."

"No, it really isn't."

Danny threw up a shield the moment he heard the familiar whir of a charging ecto gun. The blast hit the shield, knocking Danny back a ways as a crack appeared in his shield. He snapped his head around when he heard a scream beside him. A second blast hit the ghost square in the chest. He started losing altitude, dropping back toward the alley where Danny found him. Teeth grinding, Danny shot a glare at the Guys in White agent as his hands glowed green. How was that even possible? How did an agent arrive moments after he transformed into Phantom?

His anger and frustration exploded through the beam he fired at the agent. The man, broad shouldered and bald, dodged each blast that Danny fired at him. He was so sick of this! He wanted the Guys in White to finally leave him alone, but every time he tried to deal with the ghosts in Amity Park, BAM! The Guys in White appeared.

The agent appeared suddenly before him with his gun trained right on Danny's forehead. When the agent's finger pulled the trigger, Danny would only have seconds to dodge it at this range. He could hear the shot charging like a roar in his ears. Then an explosion rocked the air. Danny turned intangible as the agent spun forward, part of his jet pack destroyed in the blast. After watching the agent spiral out of control for several minutes, Danny swung back around to stare at the person that saved him. Dressed in a black suit not too much unlike Valerie's ghost hunting suit, the man floated on a similar speed board. His gun was lowered after taking out the agent's flight capability.

Energy balls formed in Danny's hands as he prepared to fight. What was going on here? A new ghost hunter in town? But he shot at the agent instead of Danny. Was he trying to eliminate the competition before capturing the ghost? He waited for an attack but was stunned when the man gave him a two finger salute before he flew off through the sky.

"Okay. This is all getting really annoying," Danny grumbled as he turned invisible. After returning to the dumpster, he changed back to human then climbed out of it. The ghost was gone, disappearing somehow after being hit by that blast from the agent. Danny found the Thermos still lying in the alley. _I couldn't have a normal life, could I?_ he asked the heavens and sighed.


	17. Chapter 17

Kwan sighed as he rubbed at his eyes. He enjoyed his work examining evidence, but staring through a microscope or at computer screens for long hours could really take a toll on him. He could already feel a pounding headache blooming as his work day came to an end. There were a few more things that he wanted to go over for his boss before calling it a day and heading home. He gathered up some papers, tapping them on the counter top to straighten them as he stood.

As he turned to leave the papers on Berman's desk for review later, the soft squeak of the door drew his attention. Kwan frowned at the door slowly shutting. The telltale click of the lock sliding into place wiped away any thought that the door closed by mere accident on its own. The lights shut off overhead, leaving him in darkness. He stumbled in the direction of the door, banging into a chair. The papers scattered from his hands as he fell to the floor with a grunt. A thin line of light shone under the door only feet in front of him.

Something cold wrapped around his arm, but whoever or whatever it was released a shout and yanked their hand back as if burned. Kwan didn't wait to figure out what was happening. He shot to his feet, trying not to stumble over anything else in the laboratory as he raced toward the door. Fiery pain exploded across his back when he was struck and thrown forward into the door. _Belt apparently doesn't stop the energy balls_ , Kwan thought with a groan of pain. When the room glowed red, he glanced over his shoulder. The ghost floated before him with his hand glowing red, lighting up his face to reveal red eyes.

"Looks like you're not all that protected after all." The ghost's voice sound familiar but not simply from the time Kwan was stabbed by the Guys in White agent.

Kwan slipped down to the floor before the next energy ball could land a second hit. He fumbled with the doorknob, trying to get it unlocked when a third blast struck his hand. Snapping his hand back, he kept a watchful eye on the ghost. Nothing in the room provided him with a means to strike back at the ghost. The only thing he had that protected him from the ghost was the belt that Masters gave to him and Dash.

_Hm, the belt_ , Kwan wondered as he placed a hand over it. At Dash's insistence, he wore it every day since the stabbing. What would happen if he got the belt around the ghost? It shocked the ghost when it touched him earlier. Maybe it would distract the ghost long enough for him to make an escape. Kwan hoped, at least. It was the only thing available to use against a ghost at the moment.

He rolled forward as the ghost threw another energy ball at him. It blasted the bottom of the door, barely missing him. Quickly, he worked the latch on the belt, yanking it free from around his waist. The ghost charged another energy ball in his hand, rage burning in his eyes.

Kwan jumped at him, arms wrapping around the ghost and startling it. The latch on the belt snapped into place as the ghost fired its blast point blank into Kwan's chest. Hitting the ground on his back, Kwan gasped, pain exploding from both back and chest. The ghost shouted and cursed, wrestling with the belt as it struggled to pull the thing off him.

A sudden blast of green knocked the ghost into the far wall. Kwan twisted around and stared up into the darkness, catching the sight of glowing green eyes. "You took the fun part." The familiar voice of Danny Phantom echoed in his ears, but Kwan frowned upon hearing it.

"You think that's going to stop me?" The ghost laughed, and something clunked as it hit the floor. Kwan guessed that the ghost managed to remove the belt despite all the pain it caused the ghost. The red glow appeared in the palm of the ghost's hand, lighting up the manic grin upon its face.

"Oh good," Danny Phantom said, floating over to stand before Kwan. "It's not over yet." He punched an arm forward, sending out a fist shaped blast of ectoplasm. The punch slammed into the other ghost before it managed to throw its energy ball. The ghost hit the wall with a satisfying thud that brought a smirk to Danny Phantom's face.

The other ghost growled in frustration. "This isn't over."

"The weakling ran away," Danny Phantom grumbled in annoyance or frustration. "Well, it would have been a boring fight anyway."

Kwan swallowed as coldness settled over him and those glowing eyes leaning in right in front of his face. Before he could start to wrap his brain around what was happening, he heard the door unlocking. Kwan snapped his head around as Berman pushed the door open then flipped on the lights. Berman glanced about the laboratory with a frown set deep on his face.

"Where did he run off to now?" Berman grumbled, turning back out of the room. "Leaving the lab in such a mess."

When the door shut behind him, Kwan could only stare in shock. Why did his boss act like he wasn't even there?

"Invisibility has its advantages," Danny Phantom whispered right into his ear.

Kwan jerked his head back around and stared with wide eyes as the ghost faded back into sight. He assumed that he also did the same as Danny Phantom removed his invisibility. The frown returned to his face as the ghost grinned at him. "You didn't need to do that." He glared when Danny Phantom merely shrugged. "And who exactly are you?"

That question made the ghost blink in surprise. "Oh, come on! You're going to act like you don't recognize me?" Danny Phantom pointed a finger at his face.

Kwan lifted an eyebrow. "Oh, I know you want me to _think_ you're Danny Phantom, but you're not really him."

The impostor leaned back in mild surprise. "Well, you'd only be half right there." A wicked grin spread onto his face. "But what gave it away?"

"You've got the appearance down, but you don't act anything like him," Kwan answered dryly.

"It's that whole lack of human emotions." He shrugged then reached out and plucked the glasses right off Kwan's face. "These suit you much better than those dorky thick ones you had." He held the thin rimmed glasses to his face and tilted his head. "Do you even really need these? Or are you just going for the geeky smart look?"

Kwan rubbed at his face. What was the deal with this ghost? "First off," he said as he crawled out from under the ghost so that he could climb to his feet, "I've never had thick glasses. And I do need these when I work." He snatched the glasses from the ghost's hands. "And you still haven't answered exactly who you are." After putting his glasses back on, he folded his arms and glared down at the ghost.

A grin spread upon the impostor's face as he slowly rose to his feet. His appearance changed, hair turning fiery, eyes shifting to red, clothing changing in style. His body was bigger, more muscular, than Danny Phantom's lean form. Despite all the changes, he still held a strong resemblance to Danny Phantom that Kwan found somewhat unsettling. "I should have known you'd be able to see right through it. You always were the smart one." He grinned, folding his arms as he took pleasure in the shock playing over Kwan's face. "You can call me Dan."

Kwan shifted his weight, trying to understand what exactly was going on. While Dan still reminded him of Danny Phantom, he looked older by about ten years. Kwan pursed his lips as he glared at the ghost. "And what exactly are doing here?" He would have understood if Danny Phantom showed up to fight the other ghost. The only thing he could tell about Dan was that he looked like he took pleasure in fighting.

"Well, I was going to step in to help, but then you had to be all brainy smart, like always, and find a way to fight yourself." Dan folded his arms with a slightly miffed look. "I guess I really should have taken down that ghost, but oh well, my other will do it eventually." He shrugged like letting the ghost escape was no big deal.

Kwan massaged his forehead. "You're giving me a headache." After sighing, he crouched down to pick up the papers that he dropped before Berman could return to yell at him. The moment he bent down, he winced. The blast to his chest really hurt. When Dan appeared right before him, Kwan only blinked, wondering why the ghost was even still there.

Without a word, Dan fisted a handful of Kwan's shirt and with a slight tingle of intangibility yanked it right out the man's body.

"Hey!" Kwan shouted in protest as he reached for his shirt. A gloved hand to his chest made him freeze. He already felt what it was like to be hit with an energy ball at point blank, and he had the feeling that Dan's blast would hurt far more than that other ghost. With a hard swallow, he dropped his arm to his side.

Dan lowered his gaze to the spot where Kwan was hit by the energy ball. "I will never understand how you can be so smart that you finish that damn ghost shield to protect Amity Park but can be so incredibly stupid at the same time."

Kwan closed his eyes, trying figure out what exactly that meant. His headache was getting worse. "What are you going on about now? I've never worked on a ghost shield."

"Not in this time," Dan agreed. When his hand touched the scorched mark on the man's chest, Kwan flinched back with a hiss of pain. "Well, it could be a lot worse. That should heal up in a day or so." Dan's gaze dropped lower to a different injury, and his hand slipped downward until Kwan caught his hand in a tight hold.

"What do you want?" Kwan's teeth were clenched tightly. The hand hovered awfully close to the scar left after he was stabbed.

After phasing his hand through Kwan's hold, Dan put his chin in his hands, balancing his elbows on his knees. "Enjoying my rare moment of freedom."

With a snort, Kwan snatched his shirt, wincing when he had to lean forward to grab it. "What, are you in some sort of ghost jail?"

"Feels like that sometimes." Irritation flashed across Dan's face as he looked away.

Kwan tugged his shirt back on and tried to get it back in some order of neatness. "Well, I have work to do, and it's boring, so you should leave." He returned to the task of collecting his papers, forcing his expression to remain blank despite each twinge every movement made.

"No can do."

Kwan shot a glare at him. "Why not?"

"Danny Phantom can't exactly be everywhere at once. I was told to make sure you're safe from that ghost when Mr. Hero isn't able to be around."

Kwan sighed as he straightened out the stack of papers. "Great. A devil for a guardian angel." When he caught the smirk of Dan's face, Kwan scowled at him. He returned to his work, trying and failing to ignore Dan's presence in the laboratory. _At least I'll be going home soon_ , he thought tiredly, half tempted to skip what was left of his work.


	18. Chapter 18

Danny released a growl of frustration. After speaking one last time with all the contacts that he made, he still couldn't find out anything about the supplier. At this point, he felt like he had little choice but to confront Lucas. No more wasting time, he was going to find out who the supplier was. Once he closed this case, it would be one less headache for him.

When he reached the warehouse, Danny stared at it. Ever since the night Dash tried to bust them for the drug deal, they didn't meet again face to face, and Danny was fairly certain Lucas made sure no one would be able to tell where he was hiding. Someone would have let his location slip eventually, but everyone continued to claim no knowledge of where the dealer was. Some of the other dealers and buyers even confessed being a little concerned about the man's disappearance.

Danny didn't have an explanation to give Lucas about how he found the man, but that didn't matter. He wasn't coming here in the guise of his cover. Today, he was meeting Lucas as Officer Danny Fenton. Raising a fist, he pounded on the door of the warehouse. Several moments passed in silence.

"Lucas," Danny called out, pounding some more on the door. No response was given, and he frowned. He didn't even hear movement inside the building. When he tried the door, it opened. The frown increased as Danny entered the warehouse. The silence inside it unsettled him.

Old takeout boxes and cans littered the warehouse. It wasn't really much different from how it looked on the monitor that Skulker gave him. Lucas was exactly where he usually was: lounging on the couch. But the television was off, which was strange since the man was constantly watching something while laying low.

"Lucas," Danny tried again as he made his way toward the man.

No response. The man didn't move, his eyes remaining shut like he was dead to the world. That thought drew Danny up short. Dead? No, the man couldn't be dead! He rushed over to Lucas, quickly checking on his vitals. He placed two fingers to the man's pulse, held a hand over the man's mouth and under his nose, and laid his head upon the man's chest. Lucas was breathing and his heart was beating, but he remained unresponsive.

Danny stood up with a flare of panic. His one lead to the supplier, and Lucas was out cold like - A dreadful thought entered his mind. He pulled out the monitor and sped through the last few hours of footage. Lucas shut off the television as he stood to answer the door. Danny couldn't see who it was. The person remained out of the cameras' ranges. Lucas returned to his couch with a box of pizza and liter of soda. After several moments of eating and drinking, Lucas simply collapsed on the couch, appearing to fall asleep. But for the remainder of the footage until Danny's arrival the man never moved again.

Danny turned a fearful eye on the half eaten pizza and still fairly full liter of soda. _It must have been drugged_ , he realized, closing his eyes as he banged the monitor against his forehead. He didn't foresee something like this happening. He pulled out his phone. "This is Officer Fenton," he said when the call was answered. "I'm at the abandoned warehouse on Lindelle, and I have a suspect down in need of medical attention." He raked a hand through his hair, wondering how he let things get like this. He should have dragged Lucas to the precinct earlier for interrogation about the supplier, but he thought for sure the supplier would contact Lucas eventually.

Close to an hour passed before a team of officers and EMTs showed up at the warehouse. The medical team immediately checked on Lucas before they lifted him onto a stretcher to cart him off to their ambulance.

"What happened, Fenton?" Dash demanded upon arrival. Danny stared in surprise to see that Dash was one of the officers to arrive on the scene. His partner Hearst took a look around the warehouse with a disgusted look on his face. Hearst didn't appear happy at all to be called to check out the situation.

"I came to bring Lucas in for questioning," Danny explained while the other officers collected the remainder of Lucas' last meal. "But he was already out cold when I got here. I think the supplier decided not to leave any loose ends." Frowning, he folded his arms. "I guess the guy really did skip town." Though why did the supplier wait this long to deal with Lucas? If the supplier used the same drug on Lucas that he was dealing, then it didn't seem like the best way to get rid of Lucas, in Danny's opinion. The doctors still couldn't figure out a way to bring the victims out of their comas, but that didn't mean they wouldn't eventually.

"How do we know you weren't the one that did this?" Hearst demanded, knocking Dash out of the way as he pointed a finger at Danny. "I've heard from some other officers that you're a pretty loose cannon with some sort of vendetta. How do we know you didn't come here to beat the information out of him and went overboard and knocked him right into a coma?" He jabbed his finger painfully into Danny's chest.

"Back off, Hearst," Dash barked as he put himself between the two men. "Fenton wouldn't do that. And there were no markings on the man's body to indicate any sort of struggle between them. You have no evidence to back up such a ridiculous accusation."

Danny blinked in surprise that Dash would stand up to his superior officer for him.

"Watch it, Baxter," Hearst growled, glaring at Dash. "I have it in my mind to report you for insubordination. Now cuff the delinquent so we can head back to headquarters." He turned and made his way back toward the door, shoving past the other officers as he went.

"Have I mentioned your partner is great?" Danny asked dryly once Hearst was out of the warehouse.

Dash shot him a heated glare. "I will be happy when that man finally retires and I can get a real partner."

"Well, there always is the wonderful world of being an undercover cop." Danny frowned, his gaze darting toward the warehouse door. "Unless you meet up with a cop like Hearst while working a case."

"Imagine having to spend hours riding around in the car with him." A painful expression appeared on Dash's face as he remembered every day of working with his partner. By that time, the rest of the officers finished up their work and left the warehouse. Danny only pointed out the food and soda left on the table to them for evidence. "So what are you going to do now?" Dash led the way toward the door.

Danny sighed as he shoved his hands into his pockets. "What else can I do? The supplier is probably long gone by now, making plans to sell that blasted drug in some other town. I'll just have to write up my report and then wait to be placed on a new case." When they left the warehouse, Danny saw Hearst waiting impatiently in the police car. When the man saw Danny, Hearst glared viciously at him. "Your partner sure seems to hate me."

"I'm not sure that man likes anyone," Dash muttered. "Sorry about him accusing you like that. I don't think that guy would know a real criminal even if he was being held at gun point. Like Kwan would tell you, he pretty much takes the credit anytime I manage to collar someone."

"Seriously, the partnerless life is a good one." Danny nudged him in the ribs as they reached the car. Dash looked like he couldn't agree more as they climbed into the car.

"I told you to cuff the man." Hearst's glare darkened as he pinned it on Dash.

"He's not a criminal." Dash returned the glare, which made Hearst twitch with fury.

Danny sat awkwardly in the back of the police car as they drove back to the precinct. An uncomfortable silence fell over the three men after the glaring match between the partners. Hearst drummed his fingers on the steering wheel for practically the whole ride as an almost palpable aura of darkness radiated off him. Danny could see why Dash didn't like his partner. One car ride with Hearst was enough for a lifetime in his opinion.

Once they reached the precinct, Hearst tried to cart Danny right off to a holding cell, but Chief Coyle showed up and called Danny into his office. Danny launched into the tale of what happened when he arrived at the warehouse, and Chief Coyle nodded along as he listened to the story. When the story was finished, Chief Coyle wore a grim expression but dismissed Danny. After he left the office, Danny released a tired sigh only to have a wisp of blue leave his parted lips.

Danny made his way through the precinct, following his ghost sense to a lower floor. No one ran away. No one screamed. Danny guessed that the ghost was at least not causing chaos. He walked the hallways, trying to act like he wasn't in a big hurry. Upon reaching the room where he sensed the ghost, Danny opened the door and paused when he spotted Dash and Kwan. Behind where Kwan sat, he spotted Dan grinning like a Cheshire cat. He glared with a flash of green.

"What brings you down here, Fenton?" Kwan asked curiously as he looked up from his computer screen.

"What did the chief want?" Dash's brow drew together, and he frowned.

"Just my side of the story," Danny answered, waving off the question. His gaze remained on Dan, who continued grinning, knowing that Danny couldn't say anything about his presence. Danny ground his teeth at that fact. Dash frowned even more as he watched Danny.

"Well, I was just getting started on running tests for that food that was brought down," Kwan explained, startling Danny out of his angry glare at Dan.

"You're a forensic scientist?" Danny blinked in surprise. He knew Kwan worked at the same precinct, but he never thought to ask Kwan what exactly he did. He assumed that Kwan was merely another officer.

Kwan laughed as he typed on the keyboard before him. "Yeah. Anyway, your fingerprints weren't on the pizza box or soda bottle, so Hearst," Kwan sent a look at Dash, "can stuff his fat mouth and stop trying to pin the blame on you for the fact that the drug dealer landed in a coma." Apparently, Kwan shared the same opinion as Dash and Danny when it came to Hearst. "We only found Lucas Maclin's fingerprints, but Hearst doesn't need to know that." He grinned with a devilish hint in his eyes.

"Well, maybe you'll have better luck figuring out what's in that drug." Danny hoped, at least. If they could figure out what in the drug was making the victims drop into a coma, they might find a way to reverse the effects. While Dash and Kwan's attentions weren't focused on him, Danny made a gesture for Dan to follow him. "Let me know if you find anything out."

Danny didn't wait for a response as he stepped back out into the hallway and closed the door. Dan followed, still wearing his annoying smirk, which gained a darkening glare.

"What do you think you're doing here?" Danny demanded in a quiet whisper. He didn't want Dash or Kwan to overhear them.

"You know, you should actually be thanking me."

"Thanking you?" Danny almost yelled but caught himself in time to keep his voice low. "Shouldn't you be back at Clockwork's Tower? You know, on his leash or something." His hands clenched in tight fists at his sides, sorely tempted to blast his evil future self.

Dan leaned in real close. "Yes, thanking me." He ignored the other comment completely. "Did you even realize that Mr. Genius in there was attacked yesterday?"

Danny prepared to snap back angrily, but the rage blinked out in a second. "Wait. Kwan was attacked?" Panic flashed through him.

"He's not as bad as I would have thought fighting against a ghost," Dan said thoughtfully. "Managed to do pretty well against the ghost before I showed up."

"You're forgetting about that time they all helped fight against Ember and Youngblood."

"Oh, yeah, there was that time." Dan tapped at his chin with a look of sudden remembrance on his face.

"But you still haven't told why exactly you're here, now." Danny resumed glaring at Dan.

"Why does Clockwork order me to do anything?" Dan shrugged. "He's obnoxious like that with his stupid omnipotent thing he has."

Danny couldn't argue with that. Sometimes he could get really frustrated when it came to dealing with Clockwork and his vague, cryptic warnings. "So," Danny folded his arms and leaned against the wall. A smile slipped onto his face. "Clockwork sent you on a little mission to make sure that ghost didn't seriously hurt Kwan, and you decided to use that order as an excuse to linger here in the human world."

"You would take any excuse you got not to be trapped in that Tower with that insufferable know-it-all." Dan shoved a finger in Danny's face, sudden anger burning in his red eyes.

_Yeah, can't really blame him on that. I would probably do the same in his position_. Danny sighed, his posture relaxing. "Okay. I won't complain about this as long as you're just going watch out for him. But if you're going to harass him or do anything that might hurt him, I'm sucking you back into the Thermos."

Dan grinned. "I haven't been sitting idle, you know. It might not be so easy for you next time." He vanished from sight the moment the door open.

"You know, it might be a while before he actually has any news for you," Dash said with a crooked grin as he closed the door to the laboratory.

Danny sensed Dan returning to the other room. He couldn't believe he was actually allowing his evil self to watch over Kwan, but Dan made a point. He couldn't be everywhere at once keeping watch over everyone. Dan wouldn't be his first choice for help, but he would accept Dan's aid for now. "I was just resting for a moment." He pushed away from the wall and started down the hallway.

"Hey, is everything okay?" Dash fell into step beside him. "You looked kind of mad back there."

"Oh." Danny shook his head. "Yeah, just, you know, it's frustrating when a case falls apart."

Dash's hand landed on Danny's shoulder. "It happens sometimes. I'm sure that guy will be caught eventually, even if you're not the one to do the catching."

Dash was comforting him? That was odd and yet strangely comforting. "Um, thanks, Dash."


	19. Chapter 19

Danny rubbed at his forehead, wondering what exactly he was doing. He handed in his written report on the case earlier that day then went down to the forensics laboratory to check on what Kwan found out so far. The drug was added to the soda that Lucas drank, but Kwan wanted more time to completely analyze it. He said there was something strange about the drug that he was still trying to figure out. Danny sighed, his shoulders sagging. He hoped to learn something new about the drug by now, but he guessed there was no rushing Kwan in his work. The man had plenty of evidence from other cases to analyze as well.

"You're looking a little down."

Danny offered half a smile to the dark skinned man as he approached. "Just some work stuff," he explained, shrugging it off. "Nothing interesting."

Darren looked thoughtful. "I don't think I even asked you what you did for a living last time."

"I'm a cop." Danny didn't see much point in lying about it. He wasn't working undercover at the moment. His boss didn't have a new case for him yet. "How's the job hunt going for you?"

"Turned in some applications, so," he grinned and held up crossed fingers. "Hoping to hear back from some of them soon."

"I'm sure you'll get hired in no time." Danny smiled confidently. Darren seemed like a smart enough man to get any number of jobs, and he was nice so far. But Danny still remained on guard with this whole interest in ghosts that the man had. It made him a bit nervous when Darren started asking too many questions.

"I'm glad one of us is confident of that." Darren laughed and reached up to rub the back of his neck. "Ah, but enough work talk. You were going to show me some of the local haunts."

Danny wondered again why he agreed to this. _Maybe I'm just too nice_ , he thought. Vlad would probably snort at him and call him a fool for flirting with potential danger. But other than showing interest in ghosts, Darren didn't do anything suspicious. The call from the man came shortly after Danny left Kwan to finish working on analyzing the drug. He was thinking of some reason to weasel out of the deal when he realized he didn't really have any excuses to blow off the man.

"Right. I, uh, brought some things. Just in case, you know." Danny pushed away from the wall of the coffee shop where Darren bought him coffee the first time they met. It seemed like the best place to meet up since he knew Darren would know where it was. He reached into the pack that he brought and pulled out a small pistol that was similar to the Fenton Bazooka in that each blast could open a small, temporary portal to the Ghost Zone that would suck in any nearby ghosts. The only difference was that it was much more portable and far less noticeable. "I doubt we'll need it, but you never know. We might come across hostile ghosts."

Darren took the pistol and gave a quick glance over. "Where'd this come from?" He held the pistol awkwardly between thumb and forefinger and at a distance, like he was uncertain about handling a firearm.

"Uh," Danny mumbled, stalling to think of an answer. Then he sighed as he hung his head. "My parents are ghost hunters. A great source of embarrassment for most of my high school life, but they do make some pretty good inventions from time to time." He bit his tongue before saying anything more.

"Ghost hunters?" Darren asked, and Danny cringed, waiting for the teasing like he got in high school. "That's pretty cool. You must have a lot of great stories about running into ghosts."

_You have no idea_ , Danny thought with a nervous laugh. "Nothing too great. Anyway, haunted spots?" He started off down the street, and Darren followed after him, tucking the gun into the back of his belt as he walked. Scratching behind one ear, he wondered where exactly to start. There were plenty of spots where some relatively quiet ghosts lurked. _I guess we could start with that abandoned mansion on Edgate. The Wilson triplets use it as their haunt, and they're not all that interested in harassing humans_.

"Really? I find it hard to believe that you don't have any good ghost stories."

Danny chewed on his lip, trying to think of some other direction for the conversation to go while he led the way toward the abandoned mansion. "What got you interested in ghosts?" He glanced toward Darren to find the thoughtful look back on the man's face.

"Well, back in my hometown, there was always that old house that looked like it was two seconds away from completely collapsing on itself and yet no one ever thought to tear it down," Darren started, his shoulders hunching up in a brief shrug. "I guess the whole haunted vibe made people scared of the place, like if they tore it down, they'd somehow get cursed by the ghosts that lived there. Anyway, it became some kind of tradition, like a rite of passage, that you had to spend the night in the place. I think most people snuck out in the middle of the night when they did it because they were terrified of staying there all night." A soft chuckle escaped him. "I guess I was one of the crazies because when I did it, I stayed for the entire night." He turned a serious gaze on Danny. "I swear I saw a ghost that night. When I told the other kids the next day, they all laughed and thought I imagined it from being so scared. They all tried to say ghosts didn't exist, even though they were totally terrified of staying the night in that house."

"You probably did see a ghost," Danny said after listening to the tale. "Trust me. If you lived here, no one would have ever doubted the claim."

"May have been a better place to live," Darren mumbled. "Anyway, after that, I got all interested in ghosts. I always wanted to meet one, you know talk to it. Not just catch a glimpse of it floating past the doorway then disappearing. In movies and books and stuff, they always make it seem like ghosts are these evil presences bent on revenge or torturing the living. But they can't all be like that, right?"

Danny couldn't help laughing at the man's ramblings. "It's not always like in the movies." He pushed the gate open, and they started up the long walkway toward the abandoned mansion. "Sometimes, it's really dull. Not all ghosts run around trying to scare the living to death. Some just want to be left alone."

"I guess having ghost hunters for parents, you've probably had the chance to speak to a lot of ghosts."

Danny caught the curiosity on Darren's face. "Um, well," he rubbed at one arm. "I guess a few." He thought Darren looked like he wanted to say something else, but the man held back whatever it was with a shake of his head. "Well, this place belonged to some rich guy, I forget the name." He gave a wincing grin toward Darren as he carefully opened the door that was about to fall off its hinges. "He was murdered here around eighty years ago, and it's been abandoned ever since."

When they stepped inside, a section of the ceiling crashed down in the hallway before them. They coughed at the dust that clouded the air.

"Not exactly the most stable place," Darren joked, waving his arms to clear some of the dust.

"Definitely not checking the second floor," Danny agreed. He showed Darren around the ground floor, which didn't have much but a few remaining pieces of furniture covered in dust and spider webs. "And here," he said as they reached the kitchen at the back of the mansion, "is where he was murdered while in the middle of cooking dinner. Stabbed in the back if I remember correctly."

Darren suddenly grabbed hold of Danny's arm in an impressively tight grip. Danny glanced over to see the man was pointing at something. He followed the arm and spied one of the triplets drifting lazily through the kitchen. When he glanced back at the man, he almost laughed at the excitement on Darren's face.

"Hey, Charlie," Danny called out, catching the ghost's attention.

"Well, well!" Charlie touched down on the floor, standing nearly a head shorter than the two men before him. "What brings you round here?"

"Are you on such friendly terms with all ghosts?" Darren asked in amazement.

Danny laughed and shook his head. "I hardly know all ghosts, but of the ones I do know," he frowned, "no, not really. Some ghosts are hard to make friends with." He turned to Charlie. "My friend here was interested in meeting some ghosts. I thought you'd be perfect."

"Nice to make your acquaintance." Charlie held out a hand then released a laugh when Darren actually tried to shake it and his hand went right through the ghost's hand.

"He's kind of a joker at times," Danny told Darren. "But he's harmless."

"I think this may be one the best night's of my life," Darren admitted with awe in voice.

Danny wasn't sure what changed, but he suddenly felt a little more relaxed around the man. They spoke for a while with Charlie, who was just as fascinated speaking to Darren as the man was to the ghost. Danny watched the exchange with an amused smile. Ever since graduating from high school, he didn't really have many living people that he could share this part of his life with, a very edited version of this part of his life. It was almost like having Sam and Tucker around again, and that thought brought his mood crashing down around him.

He checked his watch. "It's getting pretty late," he said, interrupting the conversation, but it was one in the morning.

Darren frowned. "Oh." He sounded disappointing. "Thanks for this, Danny." He followed Danny back through the mansion toward the front door. "I never would have imagined I'd actually get to spend the night talking to a ghost."

"I'm glad you enjoyed yourself." Danny sent him a smile as they walked back toward the gate. "It's rare to find someone that actually wants to _talk_ to a ghost." He scratched at the back of his head. "Ghost hunters, like my parents, aren't exactly interested in that. They're more of the attack the ghost first type."

When they reached the gate, Darren paused and turned toward Danny. "So why are you different?" He held up his hands quickly before Danny could respond. "I mean, you grew up with ghost hunters for parents, but you," he searched for how to phrase it then shrugged, "commune with them instead of attacking them."

_Well, there are some I attack on sight_ , Danny thought as he drew his coat around him. But he no longer saw every ghost as his enemy. "Oh, um. I don't know. I guess, you know, after realizing they aren't all bad, it just didn't seem like the right thing to attack a ghost simply for existing."

Darren nodded along. "Well, I'm glad you're not like the other ghost hunters." He smiled then looked away with some embarrassment. "Would you want to do this again sometime?"

"Sure," Danny answered without thinking. Maybe it wasn't the smartest answer, but he enjoyed the way the night went. He wouldn't mind spending another night like this with the man. After saying their goodbyes, the two of them parted ways. Danny hugged his arms around his body as he headed back to his apartment.


	20. Chapter 20

"I'm never going to figure this out," Kwan groaned as he rubbed at his aching head. He had a strong temptation to shove his laptop right off the bed in his frustration. For the last hour, he stared at the screen almost like he expected it to reveal its secrets to him at some point. But no matter how he looked at the data or manipulated, he couldn't find the answer.

"I'm surprised your brain doesn't melt out your ears."

Kwan gave a shout of surprise when the ghost's head popped up in front of him. He shot away from the laptop and nearly toppled off the bed, gaining a hearty laugh from the ghost. "Dan," he growled as he sat up, folding his legs under him. "Aren't you bored of this yet?"

Dan stood with amusement splashed across his face. "Scaring people is always fun." His gaze drifted toward the ceiling then around the room slowly, like he was tracking something. "Besides if I wasn't here, that ghost would try another attack. As it stands, he's lurking around waiting for me to let my guard down so he can strike."

"You can sense another ghost?" Kwan lifted an eyebrow, growing curious. When ghosts started appearing as a weekly thing in high school, it terrified him, made him want to flee the town as soon as he was able. But after four years, it became so common for ghosts to pop up that he no longer got that terrifying feeling that left him shaking in his shoes. That wasn't to say he didn't get scared, but he also didn't run away like many others did either. Now that he had a ghost before him, that wasn't trying to kill him, he thought it would be a good opportunity to learn something about the spectral beings.

"I call it my ghost sense. Or I did anyway." The amusement died on Dan's face as he frowned.

Kwan couldn't read the expression but thought it probably wise not to pry into it. Dan may be acting as protector now. But how did he know that the ghost wouldn't lash out at him if provoked? "Ghost sense? Is that something every ghost has?"

Dan put a hand to his chin, stroking the tuft of hair there as he thought. "You know, I never gave it much thought. Though if they did, they quickly learned to flee as soon as they sensed me. Of course," he smirked devilishly. Then he vanished from sight.

Kwan glanced about the room, trying to locate the ghost. He hated when the ghost appeared and disappeared at random.

"There are ways to mask one's presence," Dan whispered softly right into Kwan's ear.

Despite his best efforts, Kwan couldn't stop his body from jerking away from the ghost, though he knew Dan did it on purpose to get exactly that reaction out of him. "Will you stop doing that," he grumbled as he rubbed at his ear. It was becoming a great nuisance every time Dan suddenly popped up right behind him and spoke in his ear. He could almost feel the grin stretching across the ghost's face at that reaction.

"I just didn't want that vengeful spirit overhearing," Dan explained, continuing to speak quietly into Kwan's ear. "We wouldn't want him learning how to hide his presence, after all."

Kwan guessed that made sense, though he still glared at Dan. "You mentioned this was your rare moment of freedom." He gave another curious lift of his eyebrow. "Are you in some kind of ghost prison or something?"

"Feels like it sometimes." Dan floated on his back with his arms fold behind his head and one knee raised with the other leg crossing it. "The real ghost jail certainly couldn't hold me." He wore a cocky grin. "Warden Walker is a pansy next to me."

"So you're some kind of ghost criminal?" Kwan grabbed his laptop and dragged it into his lap to stare at the data again. The thing was giving him a headache, but he wanted to uncover what it all meant so that he had something to tell Fenton later.

"I was a terror." Dan grinned toothily, showing off sharp canines that gave him the appearance similar to a vampire. "I caused chaos and destruction like you could never imagine."

"And what stopped you, O' Majestic Terror?" Kwan kept his gaze focused on the screen in front of him. He toyed with the data, typing swiftly over the keyboard. But the strange element of the drug remained an enigma.

"Meddlesome Clockwork," Dan grumbled darkly. "He made sure I never came into existence."

Kwan lifted his gaze and stared at Dan, who glared at the ceiling. "What does that mean? How could you have not come into existence if you're right here right now?"

Red eyes turned on him, and Kwan felt a shiver run down his spine at the look in those eyes. "I existed ten years into the future. Clockwork alerted the younger half of me of the future that lay ahead for him if he made the wrong choice. We fought, I was defeated, my timeline was wiped out. Now I'm forced to serve under Clockwork or risk permanent deletion."

His chin rested on his hand, elbow digging into his thigh as he thought that over. Kwan almost felt some pity for the ghost, having the world he knew completely erased and being stuck in another time. But he frowned as he watched the ghost floating lazily around his bedroom. From the logo on the ghost's chest, Kwan thought he had a pretty good idea who Dan was supposed to be the future of, but he couldn't imagine how that twist of fate came about. Danny Phantom turned evil? He simply couldn't see it happening. "If you're such a big threat, being all evil and whatnot, why did he allow you to exist in this timeline? Why didn't he just let you disappear along with your timeline?"

Dan didn't respond immediately, a foul expression twisting his face. Kwan almost thought the ghost wouldn't answer him at all. "Who knows?" Dan shrugged, his face clearing suddenly. "Clockwork never explains his actions, but he usually has meaning. Though if the whole point was so that I can be here to keep you from dying, then that's really disappointing."

"Sorry to be so disappointing." Kwan glowered then returned his attention to his laptop. "But if you think that, why not just leave? Why should it matter to you if I die? I don't see how my death would be of any importance to the flow of time." He tried to select a certain section of the data and gritted his teeth when he got an error. When red eyes blinked through the screen, Kwan nearly threw the laptop away from him.

Dan grinned, enjoying how easy it was to spook the man. "Maybe you have something you still have to do while alive." He shrugged and folded his arms. "Maybe you dying now is the start of a domino effect that leads to something terrible. You can never be certain what it'll be. Clockwork watches over all of what happens through time. It's usually best not to ignore him when he orders you to do something."

Kwan closed his laptop. He wasn't going to get anymore work done, not with Dan yammering at him. "And the order to stop that ghost extended for this long? Didn't he simply mean when the ghost attacked me in the lab?"

"It could have," Dan agreed simply, not seeming to care too much. "But he probably knew I'd stick around. He knows all of what's going to happen or what can happen. He might act annoyed when I come back late, but he knew it was going to happen, or he wouldn't have sent me out in the first place. He's _really_ annoying like that."

"Just listening to you is giving me a headache." Kwan set his laptop on the nightstand beside his bed then removed his glasses to place on top of it. He got up and stretched his arms over his head, feeling stiff and achy all over. "If you're going to be bugging me all the time, I'm never going to get my work done."

"You're coming along pretty well on it though."

Kwan paused on his way to the bathroom. He turned around and glared at the grin on Dan's face. His eye twitched then an eyebrow went up a fraction. "Do you know what the secret of the drug is then?"

Dan grinned as he leaned in close. "Even if I do, I wouldn't be able to tell you."

"Because telling me might screw up the timeline?"

"Bingo, Genius!" Dan poked Kwan on his nose.

Kwan grabbed the finger pushing on his nose and shoved it away from him. "I don't really see how that could possibly mess up anything, but fine. Whatever." He entered the bathroom, slamming the door in Dan's face for all the good it would do him. As a ghost, Dan could always simply walk through it. The thought made him shudder as he grabbed his toothbrush.

"You're so close to figuring it out."

Kwan pointedly ignored the ghost as he brushed his teeth and got ready for bed. He was too tired to continue talking, but he knew Dan wouldn't leave him be. Dan's presence became a real disturbance to his sleep.

"When it finally hits you, I bet you'll smack your forehead and cry out 'ugh, I should have known! That was so obvious!'"

Kwan rolled his eyes as Dan laughed, apparently rather amused at the thought of that reaction. After he finished up in the bathroom, he walked over to his bed and turned off the lights. He crawled into bed then drew a pillow over his head. Maybe he could drown out all Dan's nightly blathering, or at the very least, keep the ghost from randomly talking into his ear.

"So I'm guessing from the pictures, your parents are nice to you in this timeline?"

"You have got to be the most annoying ghost to ever exist," Kwan grumbled, holding the pillow tightly over his head. "If this is seriously how you always act, I'm not surprised that Clockwork whatever is annoying right back to you." And what was with that question? Why would Dan ask anything about his parents? "You do realize that being of the living still, I need sleep, right?"

"That's one thing I don't miss about being human."

Kwan sighed in frustration. At this rate, he would never get any sleep.


	21. Chapter 21

Screams rang out as people ran away. Danny ducked into a bathroom, cursing his rotten luck. He went to the mall for the simple purpose of buying some new clothes when a ghost attacked. Could he never get a day off? _Of course not_ , Danny thought as he checked to be sure no one else was in the bathroom. _Heroes never get days off_. When he was sure he was alone, Danny transformed, ready to fight the ghost terrorizing the people shopping. He flew out into the main shopping hall in search of the ghost.

The ghost picked up one of the random shoppers, lifting the woman high into the air. When he reached the roof, he released his hold on her, laughing as she screamed and plummeted toward the floor. Danny shot into action and caught the woman before she hit the ground. After he set her down carefully, he soared toward the ghost, who was too distracted while laughing in amusement at the terror it caused. He grabbed hold of the ghost and phased them both through the roof of the mall.

"Let go," the ghost growled, and an energy ball slammed into Danny's chest.

Releasing his hold, Danny tumbled backward in the air before correcting his balance. "You're going back to the Ghost Zone!" He threw an energy ball of his own at the ghost, but it dodged out of the way.

"Don't know what this Ghost Zone is, but I don't plan on going there."

When the ghost tried to hit him with another energy ball, Danny blocked it with a shield. Then he slapped his hands together, shooting out a stream of ectoplasm.

The ghost screamed as it flew backwards in the air. After managing to regain control, the ghost spun back around and zoomed toward Danny. But he was ready for the attack. Danny turned intangible, allowing the ghost to sail right through him. Then he grabbed hold of the ghost's feet. He spun around a few times then released his hold, letting the ghost fly up into the sky. He gave chase but halted as a jet of green flashed before him. Snapping his head around, Danny's breath caught at the sight of the Guys in White agent flying toward him.

_How are they finding me so quickly?_ Danny threw out his right arm, and a chain of green ectoplasm shot out of it. The agent didn't react fast enough and was caught as the chain wrapped around him, pinning his arms to his body. With a bit of concentration, electricity danced down the chain toward the agent. It came close to reaching the agent when a body slammed into Danny. The chain vanished the moment his concentration left him, and the agent was free to attack again. Hitting the roof of the mall with a grunt, Danny stared up dazedly at the form above him. An energy ball formed in the raised hand, but Danny's gaze was focused on the ghost's face.

_Lucas?_ Danny's mind screamed at the recognition of the ghost hovering over him. How was it possible for Lucas' ghost to be here? Lucas wasn't even dead! He was merely in a coma because of the drug. Danny concentrated and slammed out with his energy, throwing Lucas off him. The ghost flew off but immediately the agent appeared above him. Danny kicked his legs over his head, flipping over onto his feet as a blast from the gun hit right where his chest was a moment ago. _Okay. Two on one. That's a little unfair, but nothing I haven't handled before_.

Lucas came at him again, but Danny raised a field around him for protection. Energy balls crashed against the barrier, unable to break through it. Once he took care of the ghost, he could focus his attention on the agent. Danny took out the Thermos and dropped his barrier as the agent closed in on them. A crazed grin formed across Lucas' face, not realizing the danger approaching him. Danny jumped at him, tackling the ghost as the blast from the gun shot toward them. As they tumbled across the rooftop, Danny pointed the Thermos at the ghost. The beam of white blazed forth, and Lucas shouted furiously while he was sucked inside it. _One down_ , Danny thought as he slapped the cap back onto the Thermos.

"Hold it right there, Danny Phantom," ordered the agent, his gun trained on Danny. "You're not escaping this time."

"You sure about that?" Danny offered a cocky smirk before he pushed off the roof and soared into the sky. He heard a curse before the agent chased after him. Suddenly, he looped around, zooming back toward the agent. Blasts shot at him, but he weaved through them, quickly dodging each one. When he got close, he pulled into a sharp stop then sent out a blast from both hands. It nailed the agent in his chest, sending him flying back to the rooftop.

_Time to_ \- Danny darted away quickly when he heard the whir of a charging gun behind him. The blast missed, luckily. Twisting around, Danny stared at a second agent. He ground his teeth as his fists clenched. Was he going to get a break at any point in his life? Then he blinked as a third agent suddenly crashed into the second one. He turned his head to see the hunter that aided him once before when he took out an agent's jetpack. Danny worked his mouth, uncertain of what to say or do. Was this person helping him? He didn't get much time to think on it when the agents recovered.

"Don't stand in our way," shouted the agent with reddish hair. He took aim at the hunter, but his companion held him back.

"Ignore him. The ghost is what we came for."

Danny sent an energy beam at them, but the two agents dodged it. A whoosh of wind swept past him. Danny blinked as he watched the hunter engage combat with the red headed agent. The hunter was fairly well skilled in fighting. The second agent appeared before him, and Danny kicked out, knocking the man back. He was thankful to have the hunter there to distract the other agent. Focusing an energy ball, Danny fired it at the agent before he recovered. He sailed back into the red headed agent, throwing him back toward the hunter. With a quick shot from a wrist gun, the hunter busted the redhead's jetpack. Smoke billowed out of the broken pack as the two men spiraled toward the rooftop.

"Thanks," Danny said, grinning at the hunter. They made a good team. Or he thought so until the hunter started flying right at him. Panic shot through him, and Danny prepared to dodge when pain surged through his backside. Strangled screaming erupted from him as every nerve ending in body felt like it was on fire. Flight abandoned him, and he fell, catching sight of the third agent hovering in the air as he plummeted. _Neutralizer!_ His powers were fading.

A hand caught hold of him and dragged him onto the speed board. Danny hung on tight to the hunter as they dodged shots from the remaining agent. "What happened? Why didn't you stop yourself from falling?"

"Dash?" Danny gasped out in shock. _How did - Vlad!_ He held back a growl of anger for the older half ghost as he realized how Dash came by the ghost hunting suit and equipment. _I should have known it was a bad idea to let Vlad talk to Dash alone_. But he shook those thoughts from his head. He had a bigger problem at the moment.

"You know my name?"

"Not the important thing right now," Danny growled, shooting a glare at him. "I need you to get me somewhere safe and out of sight from that guy." He pointed over Dash's shoulder at the agent tailing them. Luckily, Dash's speed board was a lot faster than the agent's jetpack. "Because in a little while my powers are going to be gone, and I can't let him see me when that happens."

Dash, at least, seemed to understand the urgency. He turned sharply down one street then another, winding through the maze of streets while the agent struggled to keep them in sight. When they made another sharp turn down an alleyway, he dropped them to the ground. The speed board was exactly like the one Danny remembered Valerie having. It folded up into his shoes, and the suit vanished, leaving Dash in his street clothes.

"What are you doing?" Danny demanded as Dash shoved up against the wall behind a dumpster in the alley. A second later, his powers faded completely, reverting him back to his regular human self.

"Trying to protect you," Dash shot back. His hands disappeared under Danny's shirt as he trapped the other man between his body and the wall. "Also, seriously going to need to have a talk after this." His voice came out in a growl as he leaned his head down toward the man's neck.

Danny looped his arms around Dash's body, digging his fingers into the man's leather jacket. His eyes squeezed shut as he rested his head against Dash's shoulder. His breath came out in shudders and his body trembled when he felt the wash of warm over his bare neck. Then his breath caught in his throat as Dash's thigh wedged its way between his legs. _What kind of plan is this?_ his mind screamed as he tightened his arms around Dash. His eyes flew open wide and his body tensed as he felt Dash's fingers brush just above his navel.

"Ugh, that's disgusting," cried out a man, and Danny recognized the voice as one of the agents. "Do you have to do that in public?"

Dash snapped his head around toward the agent. "Do you mind?" he growled venomously. "We're busy here."

With some muttered words of disgust, the agent continued flying past them in his search for the hunter and Danny Phantom. When they were sure the agent was long gone, Dash pulled back and stepped away to put some space between them.

"Did you really just use a fake out make out to trick that guy?" Danny laughed nervously, his body feeling strangely warm and tense.

"It worked, didn't it?" Dash scowled and shifted his weight. "Now do you want to tell me what the hell that was?"

Danny hugged his arms around his body as he felt small and insecure under Dash's gaze. It wasn't disgust or hatred that shone in those blue eyes but confusion and anger. "Not here," he said quietly, his eyes flicking quickly around the alleyway. "Somewhere private." It was too late to try lying. Dash saw him change.

Dash didn't argue, possibly understanding the need to hold the conversation where no one could overhear them. They started walking, and Danny felt the nervousness building inside him. How would Dash react when everything was explained? What was he thinking now that he knew the hero he protected was the same person he used to bully in high school? All the thoughts circling in his head was only making him feel sicker, so he let his mind go blank. Not thinking at least calmed the hum of nervousness thrumming through his veins.

It wasn't more than half an hour when Danny caught Dash's hand to force him to stop walking. "This is my building," he explained pointing at the apartment building they stopped before.

"And I thought you were too embarrassed to have us over," Dash joked, even managing half a smirk.

"Shut up." Danny led the way up to his apartment then held the door open for Dash.

"And now I see why." Dash glanced over the small apartment before he took a seat on the couch. His gaze fell on Danny as the man paced around the apartment. "So this whole time, you've actually been Danny Phantom?"

"Yes."

"This whole time?"

"Yes!"

"The _whole_ time?"

"If that's seriously the only question you plan on asking, then we can stop right now." Danny halted in his pace and glared at the blond man.

Dash held up his hands. When Danny relaxed some, Dash leaned back on the couch. "So how did this all start?"

Danny ran his hands through his hair. Then he launched into the whole story about the accident with the Ghost Portal that led to his powers. When he finished, he chewed on his thumbnail as he watched Dash, trying to gauge his reaction.

"But your parents are ghost hunters," Dash shouted, shooting to his feet. "Do they know about you?"

"No!" Danny's hands were in his hair again, yanking hard on the dark strands before he dropped his hands, holding them out before him. "Of course I didn't tell them! Do you think I'm crazy?" He sighed, closing his eyes. "I mean, I know they'll accept me, but they can't know."

"They'll accept you? How can you be so sure? They're _ghost hunters_ , and you're some kind of ghost _thing_."

"I'm half ghost," Danny corrected with a cold glare. "And I've seen them accept me for what I am. Hell, the whole world knew who I was. You even helped me escape from the Guys in White after the Humpty Dumpty concert when I got exposed."

"What are you rambling about?" Dash's brow drew together.

Danny scratched at the back of his head. "There was this thing called the Reality Gauntlet that could make the wearer alter reality to however they liked. After defeating Freakshow, I used it to set world back to the way it was before I got exposed so that only my sister, Sam, and Tucker remembered that I was Danny Phantom." He waited a moment, jaw clenched tightly. "Look. I'll understand if you want nothing to do with me after this. Just - You can't tell anyone about me."

Dash moved quicker than Danny expected, suddenly standing right before him with his fist pulled back. When the punch connected, Danny stumbled back, banging into the wall.

"What the hell, Dash?" Danny held a hand over his nose.

"Are you really that stupid, Fenton?" Dash glared, and his hand remained in a tight fist. "Do really think that I'm going to freak out and leave just because you tell me you're half ghost? Do you really think I'm some shallow, superficial person? Jeez, Fenton! I want to help you! Why do you think I accepted all that ghost hunting equipment? The whole reason was to help you!"

Danny stood there, blinking as his nose throbbed. He didn't know how to respond to that declaration. "Sorry. I just-" He shook his head. "I've been alone in this ever since graduating."

"Care to tell me what happened there?" Dash folded his arms over his chest. "Or maybe about that scar?" His eyes focused on the half ghost's chest.

Danny grasped at his shirt, his heart pounding. The only ones that even knew about that scar were Vlad and Skulker. He opened his mouth to spew out some sort of lie about how it was no big deal but stopped when he caught Dash's glare. Dash wouldn't accept a lie. With a sigh, Danny closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the wall.

"It was right before graduating." Danny tugged up his shirt, slowly revealing the scar. "I got caught by the Guys in White while patrolling for ghosts. They caught me off guard, snuck up on me, whatever. Point is: they had me." He reached the point where the scar branched out, and he could almost feel the tension rolling off Dash. "Finally Danny Phantom was their captive and they could do whatever they wished with me. They decided to start with cutting me open." His shirt was all the way up, and he opened his eyes to see what kind of expression was playing on the man's face.

Dash could barely contain the fury raging in his eyes. His mouth pressed so tightly together that his lips forming a thin white line. His fists were clenched so tightly that his nails might have drawn blood. His body shook, and he looked like he was about ready to go on a rampage. "They carved you open like a corpse?" His voice trembled, trying desperately to stay even.

Danny let his shirt fall, hiding the Y shaped scar. "They had me cuffed down with straps that neutralized my powers, but I was still able to maintain my ghost form. Since I'm still partly alive, I have a corporeal form even while being a ghost. Not all ghosts have that. But yes, they decided to carve me open and explore my insides. I only managed to escape because of Vlad and another ghost. I don't even want to think what would happen if I stayed a prisoner of the Guys in White even longer. Being cut open like that gives me enough nightmares."

"And your friends?" Dash's voice remained tight, his body still ready to attack something.

"They wanted me to seek help from my parents, finally tell them the truth about me," Danny mumbled, looking away. "Even my sister agreed. They all thought that if my parents knew, they could somehow help, somehow them knowing would stop the Guys in White. I told them they were being stupid." His gaze turned cold as he glared at the wall to his left. "My parents knowing the truth only puts them at risk. The Guys in White only stopped questioning my parents because I used the Reality Gauntlet to tell them to leave my friends and family alone. If my parents knew, what's to stop the Guys in White from torturing them for that knowledge? I even told them that I hated that they knew, that I wish I had erased their memories about me being Danny Phantom. That's what really set them off. Sam got so pissed off, ranting about how I never would have kept my secret all through high school without them. That's when she broke up with me. After graduation, I just stopped answering their calls. I don't want to put my friends and family in danger." And now Dash knew too, putting him at risk.

"You're being stupid, Fenton," Dash said bluntly, drawing Danny's attention right back around to him.

"What?" Danny shouted, pushing away from the wall with a livid look.

Dash held up his hands defensively. "Your friends were just worried about you. They probably wanted to help you. And you're just pushing them away like that's somehow going to protect you. But Fenton," his tone was serious as he rested his hands on Danny's shoulders, "you can't do everything alone. You're just one person. The Guys in White have tons of people. They had you three against one just now. If I hadn't been there, they would have caught you, _and_ they would have learned your secret."

"I know," Danny mumbled miserably as he dropped his gaze. "I just didn't want the people around me getting hurt."

"They're going to be hurt if you end up dead for real, or if you end up as some lab experiment." Dash's hands squeezed around Danny's shoulders. "Fenton, you're letting them win by isolating yourself. You're weaker and less protected alone. You need people there to watch your back."

Danny sank to the floor, burying his face in his knees as he grabbed hunks of his hair. "I was just so angry and scared. They didn't understand what I was feeling. How could they even understand how it felt to be cut open like that? To have their hands inside my body, touching-" Danny bit down on his tongue, clamping his eyes shut as the tears tried to squeeze out of them. "I almost wished I was dead for real."

Dash crouched down, and his hand rested on top of Danny's head. "Did you ever tell them about it?"

Danny shook his head, hot tears dripping down his face. "They only knew that the Guys in White caught me. I couldn't bring myself to tell them about that. You're the first one I've actually told."

"You should tell them." Dash pulled Danny against him. His arms encircled the other man, and his hands rubbed soothingly over his back. "They'll understand that you were reacting out of fear and being hurt. They're your friends. They haven't given up on you."

Danny merely nodded, trying to push away the memories that resurfaced after telling his story. He could still feel the knife cutting through his flesh and the way it felt having hands worming around inside him as the lab technicians discussed whether or not to start harvesting the organs. They didn't care about sedating him, knocking him out, or anything that might have numbed him from feeling. Danny swallowed back the bile rising in his throat and let his eyes slip shut.


	22. Chapter 22

"How long have you had this?" Kwan demanded as he looked over one of the ecto blasters that Masters sent them with their suits.

"Only a little while," Dash mumbled, his mind elsewhere. "I didn't say anything because I wanted to be sure you weren't going to do something stupid, like get yourself hurt again." He leaned on the arm of the couch, chewing on his thumbnail. His mind kept going back to what happened the other day. He couldn't tell Kwan a lot about what happened, but he was starting to feel like he would exploded if he didn't talk to someone.

"Gee, thanks for mothering me." Kwan set down the blaster as he leaned back on the couch.

Dash glanced over and frowned, watching Kwan rub at his forehead. "You okay? You look like you haven't slept in weeks."

Kwan glowered at him. "Just a noisy neighbor." He shot his glare toward something across the room.

Dash followed the look but saw nothing. His brow furrowed as concern for his friend came over him. "You sure that's all? You look pretty angry about something."

"Not angry." Kwan rubbed at his eyes. "Just highly irritated."

"You want to talk about it?"

"No."

He didn't like the answer, but Dash knew Kwan wasn't going to talk if he didn't want to. "I had another reason to call you over." Dash rubbed his hands on his pants. They suddenly felt sweaty, and the words seemed to lodge in his throat when he tried to speak.

Kwan rested his head back against the couch as he turned his head toward his friend. "If you're going to spend the next three hours internally debating what you want to tell me, I'm going to order some pizza and put on a movie."

Dash leaned forward, burying his hands in his blond hair. "I think I like Fenton."

"Well, sure, he's a nice guy." Kwan shrugged then shot another weird glare across the room. "This is why I told you to give him a chance before. But you had to keep with the whole macho man attitude."

"No, Kwan," Dash snapped. He stood and paced about the room before stopping in front of his friend. "I mean I like him. The other day, we were hanging out, and-" Dash rubbed his hands over his face as he remembered how they hid from the Guys in White. He certainly couldn't mention that part to Kwan.

He remembered Fenton's neck inches from his face while they made it look like they were fooling around in the eyes of the agent. If he leaned in only a little more, he could have tasted Fenton's skin, and a part of him urged insistently to latch his lips onto the pale neck. His body felt hot, and his heart pounded. He knew the racing of his heart wasn't simply from trying to hide from the Guys in White. It was Fenton, right there pressed against him in the illusion of some intimate act. In that moment, he didn't want it to be false, and he couldn't stop thinking about it since then, along with everything else that happened that day. He dropped his hands to his side and stared at his friend.

"What am I supposed to do?" Dash's eyes plaintively begged his friend for advice.

Kwan seemed momentarily distracted by something behind him, but when Dash tossed a glance over his shoulder, he again saw nothing. "So you have a crush on him." Kwan stood and walked toward the kitchen. "It's not that big a deal. We're grown men here, not little high school boys. Have you considered just talking to him about it? He probably won't freak out about it."

"You are way too much the optimist, Kwan." Dash folded his arms as Kwan returned with two beers. He caught the can that Kwan tossed him. "How can you be sure Fenton won't totally freak out about this? And even if it's not about the gay thing, what about the fact that I used to make his life hell in high school? I mean, we've only just started becoming friends. If I say anything about these feelings, maybe he'll want nothing to do with us anymore."

"Hey!" Kwan protested as he popped open his beer. "Why would he stop hanging out with me? I'm not the one that wants to get in his pants." He laughed at the furious glare on Dash's dark crimson face. "You could always, you know, explain things." He took a sip then sighed when he caught the confusion knitting Dash's brow. "You know, about why it was for the best that you claimed him as your punching bag?" That impish smirk that Dash sometimes really hated appeared. "I always thought there might be a little thing between the two of you."

Dash glared flatly at his friend. "I didn't - Okay. Maybe there was one time in high school, but that was it." He pointed at his friend, anger splayed across his face.

Kwan only laughed at him. "Seriously, man. I don't know why you came to me for advice. You knew what I was going to say." He grinned as he drank from his beer.

Dash scowled because, of course, he knew what Kwan's response would be. Even in high school, Kwan hated all the women that his friend dated. He always wore that constant look of frustration anytime he saw Dash with a woman. It was that look that said he thought Dash was being completely stupid and in denial. Dash wasn't that stupid. He knew he wasn't as completely into the women he dated as he led them to believe. It was why things went horribly wrong with Stacy, who kept trying to pressure him into asking him to marry her. The woman was a complete nightmare, and it was a relief when she moved out of Amity Park after they broke up.

Being with another man wasn't a completely new concept for him, but only Kwan knew about that part of his life. Dash found other men attractive, but he never found one that really made him feel something. Maybe he was reading too much into what he felt as he held Fenton pinned against the wall in that alleyway, but Fenton was the first man in a long time to stir up feelings like that in him. And stir up long forgotten thoughts, about Fenton that he always wanted to believe meant nothing.

"What happens when he says no?" Dash asked, and he saw the amusement die quickly from his friend's face. "What happens when I tell him everything and he isn't gay? What happens if we stay friends and these feelings just get stronger?"

Kwan sighed as he leaned forward to place his beer on the table. "Dash, you're looking for an excuse to avoid talking to him. You're running away because you've never had a serious relationship, and you're terrified that things _will_ be serious between you and Fenton. If you run away from commitment, you're going to be alone all your life. If you don't take this chance, you're going to regret it until you die."

Dash frowned, mulling over Kwan's words. Maybe he was a little scared about entering a serious relationship. But that wasn't his excuse for calling things off with Stacy. They only dated for a month before she started rambling on about her ideal wedding. His longest relationship was only three months, and that was a summertime fling. What if things worked out with Fenton? Could he do the serious relationship thing? His parents were never exactly the greatest role models for a strong, healthy relationship.

He turned on Kwan with half an evil smirk on his face. "I could ask you about the same. After that fiasco with Star freshmen year, you never even went on another date, despite all my best efforts to set you up."

"Yeah, because they were all sleazy bimbos." Kwan rolled his eyes.

"You're telling me there's not one person in this whole world that you would want to date?" Dash gawked at his friend, hardly believing that Kwan couldn't find anyone.

Kwan jumped off the couch suddenly, slamming his shin into the table. His beer can toppled over, spilling the amber liquid onto the table and dripping to the floor. His hand clapped over his ear as he spun around to glare at something.

"Okay. Seriously! What is going on with you today?" Dash demanded in exasperation. Ever since he arrived, Kwan acted jumpy for no reason, glaring around the apartment at absolutely nothing. It was starting to worry Dash.

"It's nothing." Kwan still glared at something behind him, rubbing in irritation at his ear. "Just a little nuisance that should go away soon."

"Nope. Not dropping it. What do you keep glaring at?"

"Yeah. Why not tell him?"

Dash stumbled away, banging into the wall behind him when a ghost suddenly materialized next to his friend. "What the hell, Kwan?"

His head was in his hands as Kwan dropped back onto the couch. "This is Dan," he said, waving one hand at Dan. "He's been sort of like live in guardian for the past little while."

"But he's a-" Dash stopped himself before saying ghost. How could he make snap judgments about a ghost when Fenton was half ghost? Kwan said this one was a guardian. Who was to say this ghost wasn't like Fenton and tried to protect people? Dash frowned at the nasty smile on the ghost's face and the wicked gleam in his red eyes that made him question that thought. "Are you sure? He looks kind of evil."

"Thanks." Dan grinned, apparently proud of being called evil. He folded his arms across his chest, which drew Dash's gaze toward the logo there. Dash snapped his eyes back up to the ghost's eyes and felt the color draining from his face. Dan caught the look and his grin twisted into a smirk.

"Well, he's not the one trying to kill us, so I'm going to say he's all right." Kwan glared at the ghost. "For now."

"Yeah, listen to the genius puppy. Not evil right now." Dan continued grinning as Kwan groaned and dropped his head back into his hands.

"So not going to ask what _that_ means." Dash shuddered at hearing the ghost call Kwan "puppy." He grabbed Kwan's arm and pulled his friend off the couch. "You stay," he growled, pointing a finger at Dan. Then he dragged Kwan into his bedroom and slammed the door shut. "Is he," Dash pointed back to the other room, "who I think he is?"

"If by that you mean an evil future version of Danny Phantom, then yes."

"Give the blockhead a cookie!" Dan called from the other room.

"Shut up!" Kwan shouted, glaring darkly at the door.

"And I can see why you have the bags under your eyes," Dash mumbled, feeling sorry for his friend for having to put up with that ghost.

"He seriously has no off button." Kwan rubbed at his forehead.

Dash stared at the door for some time before he turned back to his friend. "But how?"

"No idea." Kwan shook his head as he leaned back against the door. "All I got out of him is that something happened when we were in high school that turned him evil."

Dash frowned at that response, remembering what Fenton told him about what happened before graduating. He couldn't blame the half ghost if he turned evil after that. It was a traumatic event that would surely leave anyone scarred for life. "Nothing to do with the Guys in White?" he called through the door and received an immediate negative. _Great. Another reason to go talk to Fenton_.


	23. Chapter 23

Danny's leg shook impatiently as he sat on the bench in the park. He tried to make it stop, but no matter the effort, his leg kept shaking. Leaning forward, he raked his hands through his hair as his elbows pressed almost painfully into his knees. He meant to pay a visit to the hospital, but he decided that could be done later in the day. Instead, he called up Darren. It seemed like a crazy idea. He barely even knew the man! They had only met twice. But he didn't know what else to do. He couldn't talk to Kwan because he was Dash's best friend. Anything that Danny said to him could easily be relayed right to Dash. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath, trying to calm the quickening of his heart.

His friends were out too. Danny didn't think after all these years that he could go running to Sam and Tucker for advice, especially not Sam. He was still trying to figure out the best way to make up with them after he was stupid all those years ago. He really didn't want to go to his sister either. Jazz still liked to psychoanalyze everything, and he didn't want her talking to him like a therapist. So he was left with Darren. But how would the man react when he asked for the advice? Mostly all they talked about so far involved ghosts.

"Someone looks anxious." Darren pressed a hot drink to Danny's forehead. "You sounded pretty urgent on the phone too."

Danny accepted the coffee that was handed to him as Darren joined him on the bench. His leg still wouldn't stop shaking. "Um, yeah." He chewed on his lip, turning the cup around in his hands as he tried to think of how best to say what he needed to say. "So I've been hanging out with this guy recently, and it's been fun, but I've started having these feelings-"

"Whoa!" Darren held up his hands. "Danny, I like you and all, but I hope you don't think I've been asking you out on dates. I mean, not that that would be totally objectionable. You're a pretty fun person to hang out with, but we have only just met basically."

Danny blinked before the words finally processed in his head. "Oh!" He flushed, suddenly flustered. "Sorry. I didn't mean you." He winced. "Not that you're not a good guy."

Darren shook his head. "Don't apologize." He chuckled at the color rising to Danny's cheeks. "I shouldn't have jumped to that conclusion. Uh, why don't you continue?"

"Uh, right." Danny reached up and rubbed the back of his neck, feeling all the more awkward after the misunderstanding. "So this guy is someone I went to high school with, and, well, we weren't exactly on good terms back then. He was kind of a jerk to me." He shrugged as he leaned back against the bench. "Then we met again. We work in the same precinct, but being separate divisions, we never really saw each other until recently. We started hanging out, kind of becoming friends. Then the other day, something happened, and-" Danny fumbled for words, his face feeling warmer. "I think I like him." The words left his mouth in a mumble as his cheeks darkened several more shades of red.

"And," Darren drew out the word, staring at Danny like he was trying to gauge something by the man's expression. "Do you think he might not feel the same?"

Danny dropped his gaze to the coffee that he still didn't take a sip of. His insides felt like they were tied up in knots, and the thought of trying to digest anything made him a little queasy. "He's always dated girls." He frowned, and his heart sank. "He's pretty much the furthest thing from gay. He's straighter than a ruler. He was pretty much the biggest bully at our school, and I think if he found out another guy liked him, that guy would end up pounded so far into the ground, they'd burst through the other side of the world." He cringed at that thought.

"You can't know that for sure. Did you ever see him beat up someone because of their sexuality?"

Danny sighed. "That's pretty hard to tell. He bullied a lot of people." His head tilted as he thought about high school again. "Though I was always his favorite to pick on."

"So," Darren said in that slow manner. "Maybe he's not as straight as you think."

Danny snapped his head up and shot a quizzical look at the other man.

Darren laughed. "I'm just saying. It's like when you're kids and a boy pushes a girl into the sandbox because he likes her. Maybe he was picking on you because he liked you but didn't know how to express himself, or was in complete denial, so he did what all guys do."

Danny laughed as he shook his head. "I really doubt that." His gaze dropped to his coffee again, and a miserable feeling settled over him. "I don't really want to tell him about my feelings. I mean, I threw myself into my work and pretty much avoided even considering being in a relationship again. Maybe I'm just reacting out of loneliness or something. Maybe he just happened to be the first person to make me realize that. Maybe this is just a passing moment of lust and these feelings will go away soon. Maybe it's not just him." But a nagging little voice in his head reminded him it wasn't, that he was simply making excuses.

"Danny, look at me." Darren didn't continue until Danny lifted his head and met his gaze. "Do you find me attractive?"

"Well, you're not bad looking. I mean, you're very _good_ looking. Any guy, or girl, would be lucky-"

Darren put a hand over Danny's mouth to stop his ramblings. "I didn't ask if I was good looking. Are you attracted to me? When you look at me, do you feeling anything?" He dropped his hand to allow Danny to answer.

For a while, Danny remained silent, staring at Darren while he thought. "No, sorry." He sighed as his shoulders sagged. "I don't feel anything toward you. But why him?" Danny pressed his forehead into one hand. "We're finally becoming friends, and I really like hanging out with him. I don't want to ruin things by telling him I'm attracted to him. What if he freaks out? What if he hates me? What if he never wants to see me again?" _What if he's not there for me again when I need someone?_ That thought really shook Danny. He really needed Dash there when the Guys in White showed up and caught him by surprised. But even more, he needed Dash to wake him up and see how stupid he was being, to be a shoulder to cry on when his memories overwhelmed him. He didn't think he could lose Dash now.

"You need to stop with the what ifs before they drive you crazy." Darren placed a hand on Danny's shoulder and gave him a gentle shake. "But I think it would be wise to at least say something to this guy. You may not want to ruin the relationship you have now. But think about what happens when these feelings don't go away. What happens if they just get stronger? It may be kinder to be rejected now while the feelings are still new and uncertain than be rejected later when you think you might be completely in love with the guy. And maybe," he nudged Danny with an elbow, "you'll get lucky and he'll return your feelings."

"I might need some very strong luck for that." Danny already felt incredibly lucky that Dash didn't freak out after finding out that he was half ghost. He knew in the past Dash accepted him before he used the Reality Gauntlet to return things to how they were, but he never could be certain if that fact would remain true if Dash found out later.

"I'm just going to say go for it." Darren shrugged. "Knowing is at least better than constant uncertainty."

Danny released a long, suffering sigh. "I guess."

Darren patted him on the shoulder. "Sorry to cut this short. But I have to get to work soon."

"Oh! Congrats on getting the job." Danny grinned as Darren stood. "I knew you'd get one quickly."

"Then I can thank you for being so confident in me." Darren waved before he turned and walked down the pathway through the park.

Danny closed his eyes as he pressed the cup to his forehead. Could he really tell Dash about his feelings, whatever they were? He could sit there for hours debating what to do, but it would get him nowhere. Work needed to be done, and after that last ghost encounter, he needed to check on something. He stood and headed for the hospital.

When he reached the hospital, Danny headed immediately to the floor where the victims were kept. They lay in beds filling the unit as machines beeped and made other noises. One of the doctors exited the room as he arrived.

"Ah, Officer Fenton," Doctor Aldermen said, greeting him with a friendly smile. "What brings you around today?"

"I was wondering if there's been any change in their condition," Danny explained as his gaze looked past the man toward the people laying in the beds.

"Oh, well, I'm afraid not." Doctor Aldermen frowned as he turned to glance over his patients. "They still haven't woken up from their comas."

Danny's eyes darted toward the doctor. "What about the latest victim? Lucas? He hasn't died, has he?"

Doctor Aldermen's brow rose in surprise. "No, of course not. They all remain in a stable state. They just won't wake up." He sighed tiredly. "I have other patients to check on now." He walked down the hallway to continue his rounds.

Lucas was still alive? Danny's brow furrowed at that fact. The ghost he last fought was definitely Lucas. He knew that without a doubt. How could Lucas still be alive if his ghost was currently in Danny's Thermos? Shaking off the strangeness, Danny entered the ward. He walked down the row of beds, looking at each victim as he went.

When he reached Lucas' bed, a very disturbing feeling wiggled its way inside him. He recognized some of the victims and not simply from his prior visits. Some of them were the ghosts he encountered earlier. The ghosts that he met who didn't even realize they were ghosts. He made the assumption that they were dead, but here they were, very much alive though completely unresponsive to the world. What exactly was going on?


	24. Chapter 24

"So you still haven't spoken to him?" Darren asked as they walked down the street after leaving another haunted house. Supposedly haunted house. No ghost appeared this time. He caught the look on Danny's face then shook his head. "You've been avoiding him, haven't you?"

Danny winced. "It's not like I'm actively avoiding him." He reached up and scratched the back of his head. "We don't see each other a lot at work."

Darren took hold of his shoulders, forcing Danny to stop walking. "Call him."

"He's probably working. He tends to have the night patrols." Danny wouldn't look Darren in the eye. He wasn't lying about not seeing Dash at work, but he could have called Dash at any point. Instead, he purposely ignored any calls from Dash and Kwan. "Anyway, I'm pretty sure this next place will have a ghost." He grabbed hold of Darren's hand and pulled him along to their next destination.

"Seriously, Danny, just talk to him." Darren sighed as he followed after the man. They walked in silence for a while. No one was out at this time of night. "Is this your first time liking another guy?"

Danny felt his face heat, fearing the blush even reached to his ears. "No," he mumbled, chewing on lower lip. "But I had a girlfriend at that time, and I figured it maybe was just a phase."

"Well, you don't sound like you have a girlfriend stopping you now. And like I said, you'll just feel worse later."

"I know." Danny sighed and rubbed at his face. "I don't have a very good track record with romance." He had a few dates here and there, but he never dated a woman more than once. Sam was pretty much his only real girlfriend, and that relationship ended with a spectacular fallout. He hung his head, thinking of his miserable attempts at dating. It was another reason why he threw himself into his work.

"Everyone goes through some rough relationships. You don't meet the person you're going to spend the rest of your life with when you're five. If you just give up, you'll be alone for the rest of your life."

Danny frowned, knowing already what living alone looked like. He had Vlad as an excellent role model for that. "We've been doing a lot of talking about my romantic problems. What about yours? Seeing anyone? Got your eye on anyone?"

"I've kind of been too busy with the whole moving and job stuff."

"And the ghost thing," Danny reminded, turning his head to grin. "Maybe we should call it quits for tonight, and I can show you to some clubs."

"Clubs really aren't my thing."

They weren't really Danny's thing either. He only went to some of the clubs because he was working undercover on a case. "There are other places we could go." But where was the best place to take Darren to meet someone? He wasn't exactly the best at picking up people for a date.

"Clever attempt, Danny." Darren smirked at the guilty look on Danny's face. "But you're not getting out of this that easily." He took the lead, dragging Danny down the street. "First we're getting you dressed up. Then you're calling up that guy."

Danny laughed nervously. "I don't think that's the best idea."

"Fenton?" A car pulled up to the curb beside them.

"Dash?" Danny blinked as the blond man leaned his head out the window. "I thought you were on patrol.'

"Just got off. What are you doing out this late at night? It's nearly four in the morning."

"So that's the guy?" Darren whispered, nudging Danny in the side. The answer was obvious from the color rising to Danny's cheeks. "I can see why you like him."

Danny gave him a hard shove with his elbow. "We were just hanging out." He walked over to the car, and Darren followed. "Is it really that early in the morning?" He didn't even realize how much time passed while he was showing Darren to some more haunted spots. They weren't as lucky this time around and didn't see a single ghost at any of the houses they went to.

Dash's eyes darted between the two of them. Something flashed in those blue eyes, but it was gone before Danny could read it. "Hanging out?"

"Hey! Why don't we all go grab some breakfast?" Darren suggested, earning a glare from Danny and a frown from Dash. "We were going to head home soon anyway. Might as well grab some food first."

Danny sighed and knew Darren was planning something. He turned to Dash. "Do you want to join us?"

"Sure. Get in."

Darren followed Danny around the car. When Danny reached for the passenger's side door, Darren caught his hand. "Climb in the back with me," he whispered, leaning unnecessarily close.

"Why?" Danny frowned, his brow furrowing with confusion.

Darren rolled his eyes. "Just do it." He pulled Danny to the back door and gave him a shove to get in. Danny gave him a confused look before he climbed in and scooted over to the other side.

Once Darren was in the car, Dash pulled away from the curb. "So who is this?" He flicked his gaze to the rearview mirror.

"Oh, right! Introductions." Darren grinned as he placed his hand on Danny's leg. His grip tightened when Danny almost jerked away at his touch. "I'm Darren."

Danny leaned over toward the other man. "What are you doing?" His demand was too soft for Dash to hear.

"Making your crush jealous." Darren turned a wide grin on Danny, giving his knee a little squeeze. Their faces were far too close.

"We're here," Dash announced gruffly as he parked his car. He got out of the car quickly, slamming the door behind him.

"Okay. What do you even mean by that?" Danny demanded, taking advantage of their moment alone.

"He thinks we're on a date, and he's completely jealous."

Danny gaped at him, but no thoughts would form in his stunned mind. Darren couldn't be right about that. Dash wouldn't be jealous. Dash couldn't be gay. Before Danny could think of a response, Darren climbed out of the car. Danny followed hurriedly to join the two men as they walked toward the small restaurant. Hardly anyone was inside, and they had their choice of where to sit. Once they had a table, Darren excused himself to the restroom.

"Known this guy long?" Dash glanced over the menu.

Danny shrugged as he tried to decide what to get. Should he go with his usual? He didn't have much of an appetite at the moment with Dash sitting across from him. "Only a week or two." He risked a glance over to catch the deep furrow on Dash's brow.

"And you stay out this late with a guy you barely know?" Dash looked up, but Danny couldn't read his expression.

"You really think I'm on a date him, don't you?" Danny almost laughed at the flustered look on Dash's face before the man dropped his gaze back to the menu. "He's just a friend and new to town. So I'm just showing him around."

The menu went down on the table with a loud slap. "You're showing him around town at four in the morning?" Dash's voice rose until he practically shouted the end of the question, drawing the attention of what few customers were in the restaurant. His eyes were livid as he stared at Danny.

"What's the big deal?" Danny shrugged and buried his face in the menu. Why was Dash overreacting to this? He was just thinking that he would get his favorite, the blueberry waffle plate, when the menu was ripped from his hands. Dash's mouth was open to speak when Darren slid into the booth next to Danny. His mouth snapped shut, and Dash looked away.

"So what's good here?" Darren leaned over Danny to grab a menu. "Ow!" He jumped then reached down to rub his shin, receiving a confused look from Danny.

"I like the blueberry waffles," Dash said, trying to flag down a waitress to take their order.

"Eh, I don't really like blueberries."

"But the blueberry waffles here are amazing!" Danny gaped at Darren, barely hearing Dash's muffled laughter.

"What can I get you," the waitress glanced around the table, "handsome fellows?" She smiled and offered a wink. She was a short woman, who seemed far too peppy for the early hour.

"Two," Dash glanced at Danny who nodded, "blueberry waffle plates, and whatever he wants." He waved an uncaring hand at Darren.

After a few minutes of looking over the menu, Darren finally ordered. "I'll have the chocolate chip pancakes."

"I'll be right back with your order." The waitress left the three men alone, and an awkward silence hung over the table.

"So you two work together?" Darren folded his arms on the table.

"Yeah, we're cops." Dash glared at Darren, and Danny wished he could use his ghost powers to disappear. "Why do you need someone to show you around this early in the morning?"

Darren didn't seem to be cowed by Dash's menacing attitude. "Night seemed like the best time to look for ghosts."

Dash snapped his gaze toward Danny, who immediately looked away. "You're interested in ghosts?" He turned back to Darren.

"Yeah, there's a lot to be learned about them. Since Danny's parents are ghost hunters, he seemed like the best person to show me the haunted sites of Amity Park."

The waitress returned at that moment with their food, somehow dispelling some of the tension in the air.

"Mm, this looks good!" Danny said with a bit too much enthusiasm. He wanted to hurry through the meal and get away from this awkward meeting as soon as possible. Luckily, the other two men decided to spend more time eating than talking. Dash looked annoyed the whole time.

Before they even finished their meal, Darren stood. "I just remembered I have to work soon, and I need to get ready." He dropped some money on the table to pay for his portion of the bill. "I'll see you later, Danny."

"Bye, Darren," Danny called with a mouth full of waffly goodness as the man left.

"I don't like him," Dash muttered and stabbed his fork into one of the sausage links that came with his meal.

"You don't even know him." Danny frowned at Dash, who ignored him as he continued to eat.

A tense silence filled the rest of the meal. Dash paid for the meal, refusing to let Danny even take out his wallet. Danny grumbled to himself about not being a girl. Why did Dash think he had to pay the whole bill? Once they stepped outside, they both paused to stare at the downpour that started while they ate.

"Well, my place is pretty much around the corner. I can just walk there," Danny suggested.

Dash shook his head as he grabbed Danny's arm. "We need to talk."

Danny allowed Dash to pull him along as they raced through the rain toward his car. They were sufficiently soaked by the time they climbed in, and Danny shook from the cold rain. He wasn't sure what Dash needed to "talk" about with him, but the silent car ride, though short, made him nervous. Was this going to be about Darren? Dash already admitted that he didn't like the man.

When they reached Danny's apartment building, since it was closer, they got out of the car and hurried inside to escape the rain, which didn't seem to want to let up anytime soon. They climbed the stairs up to Danny's apartment, and he unlocked the door for them.

"I might have something that will fit you," Danny said, crossing the room toward his bedroom. Dash was a lot bigger in size than he was, but he tended to wear baggy clothes unless he was dressing up for a cover. The blond man followed him into the other room. Danny immediately stripped off his shirt as he ground his teeth to stop them from chattering. Yanking open the drawer of his dresser, he searched through to find some pants and a shirt that would fit Dash. When he had the clothes in hand, he turned around and froze.

Dash pulled his shirt off over his head and let the article of clothing drop to the floor with a wet splat. Danny swallowed as his eyes seemed to glue themselves to the man's bare chest. Dash obviously worked out to keep in good shape, but Danny didn't expect to have such an up close and personal view of how in shape the man was. His eyes followed a bead of water trailing down his chest to his well defined abs. His mouth felt dry as his gaze dipped lower to the low riding waistline of his jeans, clinging to his legs after the soaking.

_That's so not fair_ , Danny thought, trying to tear his gaze away from Dash's body. The man was bound to notice the obvious way that Danny was staring at him. His face was growing red. He knew it, but he couldn't stop it. Bad thoughts were circling in his head. Bad thoughts that he was sorely tempted to test out even if it meant getting a fist to the face afterward. His heart pounded a mile a minute in his chest.

"What exactly is Darren to you?" Dash asked, anger slipping into his voice.

Danny blinked and snapped his gaze upward, almost jumping back when he noticed how close Dash stood now. His mind was so focused on the bare chest before him and the way the drops of water fell down his chest that he didn't see Dash approach him. "Darren?" He managed a weak laugh that sound strange to his ears, maybe a little on the hysterical side. He knew that would be the topic of this talk, and he really hated Darren at the moment for putting him in this position. "He's just a friend."

The anger remained in Dash's expression. His blue eyes narrowed like he was trying to read the lie in Danny's answer. "Really? He looked like he saw _you_ as more than just a friend."

Danny's mouth hung open, the words not seeming to make sense to him at first. "He's not the one I like that way." Confusion played across Dash's features, but before the blond man could work up some sort of response, Danny was in motion. The clothes dropped from his hands as he reached up, burying his fingers into the wet locks. He pulled Dash's head down as he leaned up and smashed their lips together. It wasn't the greatest kiss in the world, too harsh and sloppy, and Dash was too stunned to even respond to the kiss or shove Danny away from him.

When he pulled away, Danny stepped back, feeling awkward and embarrassed. What was he thinking? Of course Dash wasn't going to respond! What did he expect to happen? Dash would suddenly grab hold of him and kiss him back like there was no tomorrow? Danny almost wanted to laugh at his stupidity.

"Uh, so clothes," Danny mumbled as he bent to reach for the clothes that he dropped. A hand wrapping around his arm stopped him. He glanced up, and the expression on Dash's face suggested that he was trying not to laugh.

"Was that your idea of a big romantic kiss?" Amusement flashed in Dash's eyes.

Danny dropped his gaze, a dark blush rising to his cheeks. He definitely wasn't all that great at this kind of thing. A hand touched his cheek, lifting his head. When their lips met this time, it was slower, gentler, and Danny leaned into it, enjoying the taste of Dash and rain and blueberries. Hands skimmed down his sides, making his muscles tense at their touches, until they came to rest on his hips. Their bodies were flushed against each other when Dash finally broke the kiss. Danny stared dazedly into Dash's eyes, almost lost in the memory of the kiss and the feel of Dash's hands holding him.

"So," Danny said slowly when he managed to find his voice. He placed his hands over Dash's hands to stop the way he kept rubbing his thumbs over the flesh just over the waistband of his jeans. It was making it hard for him to concentrate. "What are we doing?"

An eyebrow lifted, and Dash's expression clearly read "you have to be joking." But he sighed and shook his head. "Making out seems to come to mind."

Danny closed his eyes and pressed his forehead against Dash's chest. He must sound like a complete idiot to the other man. "No," he mumbled. "That wasn't what I meant. Is this just a physical thing between us? Or did you want-" He frowned, shaking his head. Dash asking him on a date? It sounded laughable in his mind, but he didn't expect Dash to kiss him back either.

"I was thinking more than just physical," Dash admitted as he pulled Danny over to the bed, and they sat down on the foot of it. "I've done the dating thing a lot, and there were a lot of terrible relationships over the years."

"And you think things will be different with me?" Danny felt better to know he wasn't the only one suffering through bad relationships.

"Actually, I was thinking there was no way you'd even like me like that." Dash raked a hand through his hair then leaned back on his hands. "You never really showed any interest in guys anyway."

Danny laughed, not believing he was about to tell Dash this of all people. "I just never told anyone about it." He glanced at Dash, catching the curiosity in those blue eyes, before turning his gaze away quickly. "In junior year, there may have been about three months," he winced, knowing it was actually longer than that, "when I had dreams about you." He wondered if it was possible for his face to turn permanently red from blushing so much. "But I didn't think there was any way you'd like me. I mean, I'm a loser," he pointed at himself then to Dash, "and you're king of all popularity. So I pretty much just tried to forget all about those feelings. Until you saved me from the Guys in White and had me up against the wall, and suddenly all those feelings I thought were gone came right back to me."

Dash sat up, half leaning on Danny. "So confession time. Senior year, Kwan actually tried convincing me to ask you out, even though I was with Paulina and you were with that Goth chick."

"Who has a name."

"Not the point. I swear Kwan must have some sort of psychic ability or something because I never did tell him that I was totally trying stay in denial about my crush on you at that time. I always figured you hated my guts after everything that happened earlier in high school." Dash laughed as a memory tickled his mind. "There was this one time I was making out with Paulina in the back of her car and called out your name."

"You actually cried out Fenton?"

"Shut up! No! I called out Danny." Dash gave him a shove as Danny laughed. "Paulina nearly had a meltdown shouting about how gross it was that I would like a loser. I lied and told her I was thinking of Danny Phantom. She actually got more turned on by that. She even wanted to have a threesome with him."

Some of the amusement died on Danny's face. "So your feelings. You like me, and you like Danny Phantom." He chewed on his lip as he glanced at Dash. "Are your feelings for me just because I'm Danny Phantom?"

"No." Dash shook his head then leaned forward to place a quick kiss to Danny's lips. "I liked you long before I knew you were Danny Phantom. Even if I was stupidly in denial about it."

"And now that you know I'm Danny Phantom?"

"Adds to your sexiness. But even if you weren't Danny Phantom, I would still like you just as much."

Danny stole another kiss, pushing Dash back onto the bed. Maybe he owed Darren a thank you for somehow managing to orchestrate this whole scenario between them.


	25. Chapter 25

Danny rested his chin on Dash's chest as he stared up at the man. "Just so you know, I don't usually just hop into bed with people." He turned his gaze away, embarrassment adding to his awkwardness. Back in high school, he never imagined that he would actually end up in bed with Dash, and this time without clothes on.

Dash laughed as his hand ran down Danny's backside, making the half ghost squirm against him. "I wasn't even thinking something like that." He rolled his eyes at Danny's embarrassment. "Besides, you're a grown man. You can make decisions like that on your own."

"Well, I just don't want you think that I'm-"

"You're definitely not a man slut." Dash grinned at the red coloring Danny's face. "Though I have to admit this wasn't how I thought the night would go."

Danny sat up, the hand slipping away from his body. "How was the night supposed to go then?" A sudden nervous feeling coiled inside him, worrying that he wouldn't like the answer that was to come.

"Well," Dash sat up, a hand running through his hair, "the whole confession part wasn't in the plan." He smirked at Danny. "Don't regret it."

"So you did get jealous when Darren pretended to be interested in me?" Danny grinned playfully while Dash scowled.

"I don't know that he was just playing," Dash muttered. "But no, there was something else I wanted to talk about. I never expected you to suddenly kiss me like that."

"Not my finest moment." Danny's shoulders slumped a little at the memory of the rough kiss that somehow led to the bed. It certainly wasn't the most romantic kiss in history. "So what did you want to talk about then?"

Dash fell silent for a while, seeming to debate the topic of their next discussion. The silence bothered Danny, and he drew up his knees, hoping this wouldn't be some relationship ending conversation before they even really started a relationship. Then Dash sighed and turned his gaze back to Danny. "How do you turn evil?"

It was like Dash punched him in the chest with that one question. For a moment, Danny couldn't breathe. "What?" The question came out in a gasp as he tried to get over his shock. Why would Dash ask something like that? _How_ would Dash even know that he turned evil in one future?

"I met him." Dash raked a hand through his unkempt blond hair. Tension wound its way through his body, and he seemed to be restraining himself. His voice was tight with suppressed anger. "Apparently this evil version of you has been 'guarding' Kwan. He wouldn't say what happened, but he did say it had nothing to do with the Guys in White." His gaze settled on the half ghost's chest where he could barely see the start of the scar before Danny's knees hid the rest from sight. Remembering _that_ conversation still provoked anger in him.

"Dan, that idiot." Danny banged his head on his knees a few times. Leave it to Dan to spill the beans! He thought Dan would at least be smart enough to keep himself hidden. He should have known that Dan couldn't keep quiet. "So much for him being discreet about protecting Kwan."

A frown pursed Dash's lips as an eyebrow twitched. "You knew your crazy evil future self was hanging around Kwan? And you were just going to keep quiet about it?"

"You didn't know about me then! You really think I was just going come to you and say: hey, Dash! My evil future self, which is a ghost, is going to be watching over Kwan. Oh, and by the way, I'm half ghost." Danny glared right back at Dash, not backing down from the anger the blond man displayed. "Dan isn't going to hurt Kwan. I know that sounds crazy since he's evil and all, but Dan wouldn't risk complete erasure. Hurting Kwan would likely land him a one way ticket to non existence. And right now, I don't think Dan is the ghost you need to worry about hurting Kwan." Danny rubbed at his forehead. This wasn't a conversation that he expected to have with Dash. "If he hasn't done anything to Kwan yet, I doubt he's going to. He's acting under orders from Clockwork."

"Apparently he doesn't know how to shut up." Dash still looked annoyed by the whole situation. "I still want to know how you turn evil. I couldn't really try asking more with Kwan there."

Danny sighed tiredly. Dash wore that look that said he wouldn't drop it. "It happened way before the thing with the Guys in White and it started with a stupid mistake." He leaned his head back as he dove into the whole story about how Dan came to be with a few edits. Dash would probably keep the secret, but Danny wasn't the type to go around exposing someone else's secret identity. "So in the end, I beat him, and now he works for Clockwork as part of his getting to stay in existence. And since that day, I promised I would never turn out like him." His eyes were closed, not wanting to imagine the expression on Dash's face. Who would ever think that cheating on some stupid test would result in him becoming one of the worst villains in history?

For a time, they both remained silent, and Danny's nervousness increased with each passing second. Then Dash released one breathy statement. "You're so strong."

Danny laughed, unable to stop himself. Did Dash really just say that? He thought for sure he must be imagining it. "I'm not really that strong." He held up his arms to show off how much scrawnier they looked compared to Dash's buff arms. Over the years of fighting ghosts, he developed a fairly lean muscled body, but his size was dwarfed next to Dash. Without his ghost powers, Danny wouldn't be able to stand against Dash in a contest of brute strength.

Dash shook his head and pushed down Danny's arms. "I don't mean physical strength. You've fought your evil self, and you won." Amazement shone in his dark blue eyes that made Danny blush. "You've been through hell. If the Guys in White did that to me, cut me open like a dead body, I would probably be out for revenge. After you told me what happened, I wanted to go kick their asses." He sighed, some of the tension relaxing from his shoulders. "But you've managed to hold back that anger, rise above it, all to keep that promise of not turning evil. That makes you strong. It would have been so easy for you to give in to hate and anger and let that control you, but you made that hard choice. Not everyone has that kind of strength."

Danny shifted uncomfortably. Dash praising him was just as weird as Dash comforting him or liking him. "I just don't want to disappoint my family and friends," he mumbled. He really didn't know how to react to Dash saying such things to him. It still surprised him when Dash leaned over to kiss him, but it sent a warm, happy feeling through him.

"I'm still not sure I like Dan bothering Kwan though," Dash mumbled against Danny's lips.

"Please don't talk about my future evil self when we're kissing." Danny didn't like the image of Dan popping into his mind when he was trying to enjoy the moment.

A grin curved across Dash's face, and he laughed. "Sorry." He pulled away and leaned back against the wall. "It still seems a little weird that there's an evil you out there. Even weirder that he's hanging around Kwan."

"Well, it's been helpful since I can't keep a constant watch on the two of you." Danny frowned suddenly as he looked Dash over. "You know, it seems like that ghost is way more interested in attacking Kwan than you. I just assumed that it was after both of you since it attacked you both the morning of that first movie night."

"But why Kwan? He's, like, the nicest guy in the world." Dash's brow furrowed with confusion. "Why would any ghost hold a grudge against Kwan?"

Danny slowly pushed away from the wall. A thought was wiggling into his mind, fighting through the jumbled mess of thoughts. "Wait!" He jumped out of the body and scrambled into the other room. After some searching, he returned to the bedroom with some files.

"Well, there's a sight I can get used to seeing." Dash folded his arms behind his head as he grinned widely.

Danny blinked then glanced down to see what the man meant. A dark flush returned when he remembered his nude state. "Dash," he growled but was secretly pleased with Dash appreciating his body. He hurried back over to the bed, throwing the covers over himself. With Dash staring so obviously at him, he wouldn't be able to concentrate.

"What's all this?" Dash waved at the files that Danny laid out over the bed.

"They're from that last case I was working on." Danny spread out the various files for the victims. "You just reminded me of something. That ghost I fought before that team of Guys in White showed up and you had to save me, that was Lucas."

"Uh, what? But he's not dead."

Danny wasn't surprised by the confusion. He still didn't understand what was happening. "Yes, I'm very much aware of that. But, Dash, Lucas wasn't the only ghost I've encountered lately that isn't actually dead. And all of them were victims of that mystery drug that left them in a coma." He waved a hand over the files. "And you made me think. There's no logical reason for any of the ghosts I know to attack Kwan. But what if the ghost is someone who isn't actually dead yet? What if it's one of these victims? Do any of them look familiar? Would any of them have reason to hurt Kwan?"

"I'm telling you," Dash sighed, "no ghost would have a reason to go after Kwan. You know him! He's super friendly. Even in high school, he only did the bully thing because of me."

"I know. But will you just look?"

Dash rolled his eyes, clearly thinking this was a waste of time. He leaned over and gave each of the files a good look over before moving to the next. At the fifth file, he paused, and the color drained from his face.

Danny glanced at the file then to Dash. "What is it?" He picked up the one that caused the reaction in the other man. "Calvin Williams? Who is that?"

"My former best friend." Dash reached up and rubbed his hands over his face. Then one hand ran through his blond hair, taming some of the wildness. "Before Kwan moved here, Calvin and I were joined at the hip. The terror of our neighborhood."

"So what happened?"

"Kwan." It was a simple answer, and a glance at Danny told Dash more of an explanation was needed. "I've always been a bit of jerk, but I wasn't nearly half as bad as Calvin. When Kwan moved to town, Calvin jumped at the opportunity to torment the new kid in town." Guilt clouded his eyes, and Dash lowered his head. "Other kids would cry and run away, beg Calvin to stop hurting them, but Kwan would just stand there and take it like this was normal for him. It started to bug me. Here's this kid, new to town, and he's getting wailed on by the biggest jerk in Amity Park, and it's just nothing to him. I snapped. I punched Calvin so hard in the face that I broke his nose. Kwan was pretty shocked by that. Calvin was really pissed. But I didn't care. After that, I stuck to Kwan, and if Calvin so much as looked at Kwan wrong, I'd run him off."

Danny stared at Dash the whole time he told the story. "I never knew about that," he mumbled, not even realizing that Dash and Kwan might not have been immediate friends from the start. "So Calvin hates Kwan because he stole you away?"

"Kind of." Dash shrugged. "Calvin also expected to be king of the school when we hit high school. But I was more popular and a better football player. That only made him angrier because with me as king, Kwan was pretty much second. That first day of high school, Kwan saw Calvin heading for you and your friends. We both knew what would happen if he got there first, so I jumped in and started harassing you."

"So," Danny said slowly, working through what Dash said. "You bullied me to save me from a bully?"

"Yes. Basically, I did the same thing I did with Kwan. I marked you as mine that first day, and Calvin knew that he couldn't touch you without having to deal with me. But you know, the whole reputation thing in high school was pretty important. Freshmen year, especially, seemed like it was life or death if I wasn't popular. So I couldn't make friends with you and bullied you instead. Bullied everyone really so that Calvin knew to back off."

"Gee I feel special," Danny mumbled sarcastically.

Dash sighed in exasperation. "You're not getting it! Danny, you think I was bad as a bully, but Calvin was worse. He would have left you in a broken, bloody mess and not care if you ended up in the hospital, or worse the morgue. And he would be laughing the whole time. If you want this rated on a scale of one to ten, I was about a four and Calvin was about a twenty. He was bad news, but I never realized it until Kwan showed up. If not for Kwan, your life in high school would have been about a thousand times worse."

"I guess I should thank Kwan sometime." Danny shifted, drawing up his knees. He didn't like the sound of this Calvin person. The fact that he now had ghost powers made him sound a little more frightening. _Well, he doesn't have a lot of control yet_ , he thought, deciding that was one good point. "Calvin sounds like a real jerk."

"Yeah, he tried to get the popular crowd to turn against me several times. But like I said, I was more popular, and among our crowd, I was well liked. There were only two or three other dicks on the team that would support him." Dash reached over and grabbed Danny's arm, pulling the half ghost over to him. His arms wrapped around Danny's waist, holding the man against his chest. "Kwan was like my conscience really. Without him, I probably never would have made it out of high school. I probably would have ended up getting kicked out at some point for hurting other students. I probably would have ended up on the other side of the law. And I definitely never would have admitted to having feelings for another guy. Calvin got kicked out of school toward the end of junior year. Last I heard, he was front running some gang and had already been to jail a number of times. Apparently, he got into drugs if he ended up as one of the victims in your case. I could have ended up right there alongside him if not for Kwan."

"Who would have imagined that one meeting could change your life so much for the better?" Danny pressed his forehead to Dash's, even more grateful to Kwan for coming into Dash's life. "And I promise I'm not going to let this ass hurt Kwan."

"Don't forget. I have ghost hunting equipment." Dash grinned. "I'm helping."

Danny opened his mouth to argue when Dash silenced him with a kiss. He gave into the kiss, deciding his argument was pointless. Having Dash to watch his back may not be that bad of an idea. Dash was a great help the last time they worked together to escape the Guys in White. Danny may need Dash to save him again if the agents caught him by surprised.


	26. Chapter 26

"This is what you do for fun?" Dan grumbled, leaning his elbows on the table as he rested his head in his hands.

Kwan lifted his gaze from the piece that he was examining. "You don't have to stay here. I have weapons to protect myself from the ghost now." Even after Kwan came back from Dash's apartment with the ghost hunting equipment that Masters sent them, Dan remained with him. The ghost was lucky that Kwan didn't get fed up enough with his presence to shoot him with one of the blasters. Masters also gave him something Dan told him was called a Thermos that was used for capturing ghosts. It looked like what its name suggested: a thermos. He felt sorely tempted to try it on Dan if the ghost continued to annoy him.

"That would be more convincing if you didn't go and break the weapons down into parts." Dan picked up one of the pieces from the blaster that Kwan dismantled as soon as the sun rose. Apparently, the man couldn't sleep, and this was his idea of enjoying the wee hours of the morning.

"I do this for a living." Kwan grabbed at the piece in Dan's hand, but the ghost turned it intangible, making the man grab at air. A frustrated growl rumbled in his chest as he glowered at Dan. "I'm a forensic scientist. Sometimes I end up taking apart guns for evidence. I analyze stuff. This is what I'm interested in. So forgive me if you're bored while I learn a little something about the weapons I'm supposed to use to defend myself against your kind."

"Someone's not a morning person." Dan tossed the piece back onto the table. "And you can put this back together?"

"I wouldn't take it apart if I didn't think I could put it back together." Kwan put down the part that he was examining and picked up another part. "What is this stuff?" He turned the part over, watching the green goo slide down the sides of the clear tubing.

"It's for fighting against a ghost. What do you think it is?" Dan grinned in amusement at Kwan's scowl. The gears were turning the man's head, but he wasn't getting the idea as he stared intently at the green goo. Dan released an exaggerated sigh, deciding to take pity on the man. "Ectoplasm! It's ectoplasm. It's an ecto energy based weapon. It charges and uses ectoplasm in its blasts."

Kwan blinked in surprise. After he set the part down, he stood and walked into the other room. When he returned, he set a microscope down on the table. He ignored the curious quirk of Dan's eyebrow as he picked the part up again. Prying off the top of the part, he took a small sampling of the ectoplasm and put it on a slide.

"What are you doing?"

Kwan paused as he lifted his gaze to Dan. "I'm examining the ectoplasm," he answered like it should be obvious. "I've never encountered ectoplasm before, so I want to examine it. If I'm boring you, feel free to leave."

"I guess this really shouldn't be a surprise." Dan returned to his bored head in hands posture. "You were all ghost techno geek in my time. But before I went evil? I never would have imagined you'd be so interested in all this junk."

"I didn't exactly go around spouting out how smart I really was in high school." Kwan shrugged as he stared down through the microscope, adjusting it to examine the ectoplasm on the slide. The substance was strange, and he couldn't think of how best to describe it. It was nothing like what he was used to dealing with in the laboratory. "A jock that got good grades? I would have been picked on by my teammates if they knew. Well, some of them wanted to kick my ass regardless of my intelligence."

That seemed to catch Dan's attention, and he sat up with sudden interest. "Who wanted to kick your ass?"

Kwan sighed as he tore his gaze away from the microscope. "Why do you want to know?" The only answer he received was a shrug. "Just this guy that was on the football team. He pretty much hated my guts."

"You? He hated _your_ guts?" Dan shook his head in disbelief. "I know you did some bullying, usually when forced to by the other 'popular people,' but you always seemed like a generally good guy. I couldn't imagine anyone _actually_ hating you."

"You always talk like you know so much about me." Kwan was the one now leaning his chin on his hand. He frowned at the ghost as his eyes narrowed a fraction. It was almost like he thought he could figure the ghost out if he stared at Dan long enough. "Why would a ghost care to know anything about some average human?"

Dan snorted. "Who said anything about caring?" He reached over and flicked Kwan on the forehead. "In case you forgot, I," he pressed his hands to his chest, "lack all human emotions. It's the whole reason I turned evil."

An eyebrow lifted then Kwan shook his head. "You're so full of shit."

The comment gained a blink from a rather stunned Dan. "Excuse me!" he shouted as he rose to his feet. "What do you mean by _that_?"

Kwan grinned, and for once, Dan almost wondered if the man possessed a bit of an evil streak himself. "Oh, what's that? Is that _anger_ I'm seeing?" The grin only stretched wider when Dan responded with a scowl. "You know, anger is a _human_ emotion. If you have no human emotions, why are you getting angry? Why do you feel pleasure in tormenting people? Why do you get frustrated? In all this time you've been lurking around me like an unwanted shadow, I've seen you display a whole range of _human_ emotions. If you really didn't have human emotions, you would float around as an empty shell. Nothing would provoke any sort of reaction from you. You'd be as dead on the inside as you are in the physical sense."

Dan glowered, an eye twitching as his mouth pulled back, baring fangs like a furious beast. "You're rather irritating for a human," he finally managed to growl, restraining himself enough from attacking the man in his anger.

Kwan merely stared him. The grin disappeared before he finished his little speech about human emotions, and now his expression was blank, devoid of any display of emotion. His eyes, which twinkled mischievously a moment ago, were dull and lifeless. "But I'm right, aren't I? You act like you have no human emotions because it allows you to act the way you want and get away without any sense of remorse. You're only pretending like all that destruction you say you caused in your timeline didn't affect you, but it did and still does."

Dan's nose wrinkled, and a growl grew in the back of his throat. His hands hurt from how tightly they were curled into fists at his side. The man was almost too perceptive, read him a little too well. "You don't know anything," he grumbled as he dropped back onto the floor. He leaned one arm on the table and turned away from the man, too angry and frustrated to even look at him.

Kwan didn't bother speaking again. He returned to examining the ectoplasm on the slide. Silence claimed the room for several moments, stretching close to an hour as Kwan fiddled with adjustments and played with the sample. Then he slowly sat up straight. He stared uncertainly at the microscope, like he hoped he was wrong in what he saw. After scrambling to his feet, he hurried into his bedroom and snatched his laptop off the dresser. When he returned, he collapsed onto the couch as he opened the laptop. Dan only gave him a passing glance at the sudden movements. Kwan continued to ignore him as he pulled up his data on the drug analyzed from the soda that the drug dealer drank before falling into a coma. The silence seemed to stretch on forever as he reviewed the data. But as he looked at it, a cold feeling wrapped around him and settled deep inside. With a sinking sensation, Kwan lifted his gaze toward Dan.

"I'm wrong."

"No, you're not," Dan said, but he wouldn't look at Kwan.

"But it can't be. I mean, it's not-"

"No but yes."

Kwan ground his teeth, glaring at the ghost for interrupting. "It doesn't make sense."

"Of course it does."

"Dan, what do you know?" Kwan pushed the laptop onto the couch as he stood. He mustered up the most menacing glare he could manage and directed it at the ghost. In the blink of an eye, Dan vanished from his seat on the other side of the table and appeared suddenly right before Kwan. He stood far too close, and his lips nearly brushed the curves of Kwan's ears when he spoke in a soft voice that almost couldn't be heard.

"You already know." Dan grinned when Kwan flinched, like he did every time the ghost spoke this closely to him. "You don't need me to explain anything though you may want to pass that information onto your friend. My time is up."

"What?" Kwan gasped at the last statement. "You loiter around this whole time," he kept his voice low too, realizing somewhere in his mind that Dan must of a reason for this conversation to be between just them, "and the moment I figure something out, you're out of here? I thought you were sticking around because of some stupid order to protect me." He wasn't sure why it mattered now. Wasn't he trying to drive the ghost off only a moment ago by making him angry? Why was he feeling panicky now that Dan announced he would be leaving?

"Not really my choice. You can blame that meddlesome Clockwork." Dan shook his head. "Now it's time for you to play the bait so that my younger half can save the day."

Kwan turned his head so that he could stare more fully at Dan's face. "And it's against some rule that you can't stay and fight this battle too?"

Dan laughed at the question, a big laugh that almost sounded like a real one. "I'm not the hero here."

"You were a hero once."

A moment passed as their eyes met. Then Dan faded from his sight, his eyes disappearing last, and Kwan knew he was really gone. Dan wasn't playing around and using his invisibility to toy with him. The ghost was gone from the apartment, leaving Kwan completely alone for the first time since they met. Kwan stood there for a good long while, almost stunned that Dan actually went through with his announcement to leave.

Then he remembered he needed to tell Fenton about his findings. He still couldn't fully wrap his head around it. Nothing about it actually seemed possible in his head, but after staring at the data, he couldn't explain it any other way. Grabbing his cell phone, Kwan started typing up a message for Fenton. Maybe Fenton would understand everything better than he did, since Fenton's parents were the resident ghost hunters, other than the Guys in White.

Kwan hit the send button and sighed out in relief. That part was at least finished. An explosion ripped through the side of his apartment. The force of it threw him back, slamming him into the wall. Kwan gasped at the impact, and his phone fell from his hand. Sliding down to the floor, he winced and held his head where pain blossomed after his head banged back into the wall. When he lifted his head, Kwan swallowed at the ghost towering over him, menacing in its size.

"And now you're left all alone." The ghost grinned toothily, a venomous gleam in its red eyes. "Big mistake. But then, it was only a matter of time before they all gave up on you." The ghost's hand glowed red.


	27. Chapter 27

Danny finished getting dressed, still feeling like he was on cloud nine after the events that took place that morning. Part of him still felt like he was dreaming. He never thought Dash would ever want to have a relationship with him. Maybe sleeping with Dash right away wasn't the wisest move when they both wanted their relationship to be more than simply a physical attraction. But he doubted Dash even understood how much his comment about liking Danny even if he was no longer Phantom meant. If Dash didn't learn his secret, Danny never would have worried about the idea that Dash might only like him _because_ he was Phantom.

Danny shook his head, distracting his mind from thoughts of Dash. The blond man left twenty minutes ago to head back to his apartment. He wanted to pick up some of the equipment that Vlad sent him before they went to hunt down Calvin's ghost. As long as Dan remained with him, Kwan would be safe from any attacks. Danny still couldn't believe he was relying on his evil self to protect a friend. He was thankful for that even if Dan was only doing it because of Clockwork's orders.

"And as soon as we take care of Calvin, Dan can go back to the Ghost Zone," Danny mumbled as he pulled on his shoes. Kwan would probably be happy about that. Since being discreet wasn't a concept that Dan could grasp, Danny assumed that his evil self probably spent most of the time annoying Kwan. "Why does Dan have to be so obnoxious?" He sighed, remembering all the encounters he had with Dan in the past.

His phone buzzed as he stood. Frowning, Danny grabbed it off the dresser. It was still fairly early in the morning. Who would be trying to contact him at this hour? He opened the message, his frown growing when he saw that it was from Kwan. Reading over the data, he felt like a brick of ice settled in his gut. How was that even possible? He recognized the ectoplasm signature in the data, but it was strange. It was almost as if someone manufactured the strain of ectoplasm, mutated it into something different, something unnatural.

Danny swallowed thickly, anger rising in him at the implications of this new data. He quickly dialed a number as he started pacing around his room.

"Ah, Daniel," Vlad said when he answered the call. "What do I owe the pleasure of this call? Need more help?"

"You put surveillance in Dash's suit, didn't you?"

"You sound quite anxious." The tone in Vlad's voice brought the man's frowning face to Danny's mind. "Should I start making my way back to Amity Park?"

"Just answer the question," Danny snapped. He didn't have time to talk circles with Vlad. "Surveillance in the suit. Yes or no."

"Yes. Is that a problem?"

"Actually, that's the answer was hoping for." Danny grinned, almost letting a sigh of relief escape him. He knew that response would probably confuse the older half ghost. "Because there's a conversation I definitely want to get on tape." And with Dash's suit having hidden surveillance in it, no one other than Danny would know that the conversation was being recorded.

"Oh?" The smirk was clear in Vlad's voice. "Planning on using a little blackmail to get what you want?"

"As much as I hate your methods, if this puts a stop to the Guys in White, it's worth it."

"You've figured out something to use against them? Why, Daniel, I'm so proud I could teach you something."

"Yeah, yeah," Danny grumbled. "That's all I needed." As soon as he ended his call with Vlad, Danny dialed another number. "Dash," he said the moment the man picked up. "A small change in plans. There's something I need to do before we head over to Kwan's."

"There's something more important than saving my friend from a homicidal ghost?" Dash sounded unhappy at the thought of delaying their hunt for Calvin's ghost.

"It's related to that. Look. Just meet me at the Paranormal Science building downtown."

"You mean the building that's secretly the headquarters of the Guys in White but really isn't much of a secret?"

"Yeah." Danny rolled his eyes. The Guys in White really weren't that great at keeping their organization a secret. Everyone in Amity Park knew exactly where their headquarters was, even though they used the front of being a research institute. "Just meet me there. I'm heading there right now."

"I don't like this plan."

"We're still doing this." Danny ended the call before Dash could try coming up with a counter argument against the plan. Finally, he had some dirt on the organization that could turn the public against them. He wasn't going to let this opportunity pass, not when it could possibly mean that he could get the Guys in White to leave him alone.

After transforming, Danny left his apartment and flew toward the Guys in White headquarters. He dropped onto the roof of the building next door. Ten minutes passed before Dash arrived, decked out in the black suit that Vlad gave him. When he spotted Dash, Danny flew over to him.

"You really think it's wise to confront them like this?"'

Danny could hear the concern in Dash's voice, so he offered a smile. "It's the best plan I have right now. Just be my back up." And people needed to know the truth about an organization that claimed to protect people from ghosts. He dropped toward the ground with Dash following him.

The Guys in White were alert for ghost attacks, and the moment Danny stood before their headquarters, a squad of agents surrounded him. Their guns were trained on him, prepared to fire at any moment. Dash activated his weapons in response. One of the agents stepped forward. He was tall and buff with thinning hair and a scar that ran down one side of his face. When he raised a hand, the agents lowered the guns.

"Well, Danny Phantom," the leader said with a sneer on his face. "You have surprisingly good timing."

That statement caught him by surprise. Danny lost track of what he came here to do as his brow furrowed. "What do you mean?"

"We have a little," the leader waved a hand, "ghost problem. We hoped you might be willing to help us take care of it."

With a frown, Danny folded his arms. His green eyes narrowed at the leader. "Let me see if I have this right. You," he pointed at the leader, "developed a drug and used a dealer to distribute it to a few people. Then when these people have used the drug enough, they fall into a coma." He almost smirked when the leader sneered viciously at him. "But it's not just a coma. The drug somehow detaches the person's soul, or _ghost_ , from their body without actually killing them. I'm guessing this was all some big master plan to lure me out so that you could capture me. And now it seems to have backfired because you didn't anticipate one of them actually being a vengeful spirit bent on killing someone, so you want my help in containing it."

"You must think you're so clever for a ghost," the leader said as he folded his arms behind his back. His sunglasses hid the glare, but Danny could feel it boring into him. "But yes, you're right on all accounts. And it seems we need your help for this." His mouth twitched. "We didn't anticipate one of our subjects to elude us."

"Maybe it would be wiser for you not to mess with humans like this in the future." Danny's glare darkened, and he resisted the urge to attack the man. He knew the Guys in White were persistent in their efforts to try to catch him. He never imagined they would risk the well being of innocent people to capture him. "What if those victims can never wake again because of what you did to them? Was putting them in a coma like that worth it to try and capture me? Is it even possible for them to wake again? Can their ghosts even be returned to their bodies after that forced separation?"

"The results were... unexpected. We planned to work out a solution once we had you contained."

"You should never have done something like this in the first place!" Danny shouted enraged. His hands glowed green until he felt Dash's hand on his shoulder. Somehow that simple touch helped him reign in his anger. "I'll help you capture the rogue ghost because that's _what I do_. But after that, you stop this. You stop hunting me down like a criminal. You leave me alone."

"Fine." The leader reached into his pocket and pulled out a device. Then he tossed it to Danny, who caught it without taking his eyes off the man. "You can track the ghost's movements with that."

"Thanks," Danny muttered, though he hardly felt thankful. He already had a good idea of where to find the ghost. A glance at the tracker told him his guess was right. He turned the tracker for Dash to see, showing the man that the ghost was indeed at Kwan's apartment. He didn't trust the Guys in White, certainly didn't expect them to keep their word, but right now Kwan's life was more important. The only way to keep Kwan safe was to take out Calvin's ghost.

Danny shot into the air, glad when none of the Guys in White agents tried to shoot him down. Dash appeared at his side a moment later as they flew toward Kwan's apartment.

"That was a little too easy," Dash said, clearly having doubts about that little confrontation. "They're not going to keep their word."

"Yeah, I kind of already know that." Danny ground his teeth at the mere thought of the Guys in White. "But we have it all on tape. They come after me, and their little secret drug goes worldwide." He glanced at Dash and imagined a confused look on his face behind the visor of his helmet. "Your suit is equipped with surveillance courtesy of Vlad. I'd be angry about that, but right now I'm kind of glad I could get that conversation recorded without them realizing it."

"Blackmail. Clever."

Screams drew their attentions, and the two of them halted. Below people were panicking, police sirens blaring. Danny snapped his gaze toward the building ahead of him, and his heart stopped. The wall had a giant hole in it where Kwan's apartment was. He put up a quick shield as a blast of red shot out of the apartment toward them.

"I thought you said he would be safe as long as Dan was there," Dash growled, but his anger couldn't hide the fear in his voice. Dash was terrified for his friend.

The color drained from Danny's face. "Clockwork wouldn't have pulled Dan away if it meant Kwan would die." He shook his head, refusing to believe that Clockwork would protect Kwan for this long then allow the man to die. Clockwork knew all that would ever happen, guided time to flow along its proper course, which meant, Danny realized, that this was all meant to happen.

Without another thought, Danny flew toward the apartment. Inside, the destruction looked worse. Wires dangled, sparking every now and then. The ceiling had a gaping hole in it, and beneath it was a mess of broken furniture all in a coating of white plaster dust. Part of the floor was torn up. Scorch marks blackened several spots around the room. The television mounted to the wall was now on the floor with the screen smashed.

But the state of the apartment wasn't what worried Danny. He spotted drops of blood here and there, leading into the bedroom. "Kwan!" Danny shouted, praying the man didn't suffer a fatal wound. The splatters of blood were small, hardly enough to suggest a severe injury, but he could have sustained worse injuries after moving into the bedroom. He phased through the wall, hearing Dash's heavy footsteps rushing toward the bedroom door.

"You stupid, worthless, waste of space," Calvin screamed, slamming energy ball after energy ball onto the shield that protected Kwan from his attacks. The shield wouldn't hold much longer. Already cracks crisscrossed over the surface of the shield, and after a few more blasts, it would fail him.

Danny charged an energy ball then fired it at the ghost, knocking Calvin into a wall. "Get him out of here," he ordered Dash as he approached Calvin.

Dash hurried over to his friend. The shield surrounding Kwan blinked then faded away. "You okay?"

"I think," Kwan answered breathlessly, his chest heaving with each quick breath. A bad abrasion marred his forehead, a trickle of blood sliding down toward his right eye. His left shoulder was a bloody mess. Dash grabbed a sheet from the bed and ripped a strip off it to use as a bandage. When Dash started to lift him from the floor, Kwan shook his head. "I'm fine. Watch his back." He nodded toward Danny.

"Don't interfere!" Calvin shouted as a red ectoplasm shot from his hands to wrap around Danny's body. "If that shit hadn't moved here, I would have ruled over Casper High. I would have been a king, instead of being kicked out and having my life ruined." Sparks danced over the ectoplasm, but Danny didn't react as the electricity surged through him.

Summoning up his power, the hatred he felt toward this ghost rising in him, Danny released it, exploding the electrified ectoplasm encasing him. "I've faced far worse ghosts than you," he said evenly, his voice taking on a tone that was rarely heard. He towered over the ghost as his fist glowed, energy building into a powerful ball. "You think you're a badass just because you've learned a few tricks?" He snorted with derision. "You're still nothing but a waste of ectoplasm. You've never even seen what real power is. You're just a coward picking on those that are weaker than you to make yourself feel better."

Danny fired the blast, slamming Calvin with a continuous stream. The floorboards cracked under the pressure as Calvin screamed in agony. The ghost was weak, pathetic. Even the Guys in White shouldn't have any trouble catching him. Calvin couldn't even stand up against his power. It was easy, too easy. But Danny was too angry after seeing the ghost attacking his friend to think rationally.

"Stop!"

Arms suddenly wrapped around him, turning Danny away from Calvin. Slowly, it registered in Danny's mind that the one holding him was Dash. He glanced toward Kwan, still sitting in the corner of his bedroom. A frightful look was on the man's face as he stared at Danny. Neither Dash nor Kwan ever saw him lose control of his anger like that before, and that wasn't even the worst of what he could do when angry.

"Sorry," Danny mumbled. "But he hurt Kwan."

"I know. But you have a promise to keep." Dash released him now that Danny seemed to have calmed his anger.

Danny took a deep breath, knowing Dash was worried he would cross that line and start walking the path toward turning out like Dan. He turned toward Calvin and scowled down at the miserable sight of the ghost wedged into the broken floorboards. "I'll take him to the Ghost Zone and figure out what to do with him after that."

Danny reached for his Thermos when a white beam hit Calvin. The ghost screamed and tried to grab hold of anything that would stop him from being sucked away. Danny twisted around, and with a sinking feeling, he watched as Calvin was sucked into a Thermos in the hands of the leader of the squad that met him outside the headquarters of the Guys in White.

"You've been such a great help." The leader smirked. Then he raised an arm, and something fired from his wrist. None of them reacted fast enough, too surprised by the sudden appearance of the Guys in White. The dart pierced Danny in the chest, and he slapped a hand over it before the effects hit him.

"Shit," Danny muttered, dropping toward the floor. His body felt tingly with numbness, and he couldn't move any part of his body. He tried to use his powers, but nothing happened.

"Stay away from him," Dash ordered, moving between Danny and the leader.

"He's a dangerous ghost that needs to be contained. Step aside."

"No." Dash remained firm in his stance.

Danny faced the wrong way to see what happened, only able to hear the noises the two men made in their scuffle. Then he heard a grunt as someone slammed into a wall, and he prayed it wasn't Dash but feared it might be. Panic coursed through him, a million terrifying thoughts flashing through his mind. At least he was able to maintain his ghost form even while paralyzed. For now, anyway.


	28. Chapter 28

Darren could hardly believe what he was seeing when the alarm blared through headquarters. He joined the rest of the squad as they hurried to deal with the ghostly threat. But he didn't expect to see Danny Phantom standing right on their doorstep with some strange man in a black suit and his face hidden by helmet at the ghost's back. Cold anger flashed in those bright green eyes, but Danny Phantom seemed different from when they met in the park. Darren couldn't figure out what was different.

The conversation drew his attention away from the strangeness. What was Danny Phantom talking about? The Guys in White didn't hurt humans! It was part of their oath to do what they could to ensure the safety of humans against ghosts. Why would the Guys in White create some kind of drug that separated a still living human from their soul? It didn't make any sense! He couldn't even think of how that was possible, but he wasn't exactly a genius when it came to drugs or chemicals or working with ectoplasm. Maybe it was possible that they figured out a way to accomplish it. But he couldn't understand the reasoning behind it. Hurting humans just to capture Danny Phantom? It was inhuman to think of a plot like that! Even Danny Phantom, a ghost, was disgusted by the idea!

His stomach churned with a sick feeling. He was working for an organization that would go beyond imaginable lengths to capture a single ghost. Darren still didn't believe that Danny Phantom was the evil menace that the Guys in White claimed him to be. In the park, Danny Phantom displayed malice toward him, scaring him off to protect the unconscious human. But Darren couldn't see him as evil. Danny Phantom wasn't the problem. Nothing he knew of the ghost suggested he was a threat. The real threat, he was coming to see, might just be the Guys in White.

"Stupid ghost," his superior said with a cruel smirk after Danny Phantom and his black clothed friend left to chase the rogue ghost.

Darren snapped his head toward the man. Fear ran cold through his veins. "What are you planning, Sir?" he asked in a voice he hoped sounded devoid of emotions. He didn't want to alert the man of his doubts toward the organization.

"That, grunt, isn't any of your business," Taylor responded, shooting a sour look at him. "But after today, we'll finally put an end to Danny Phantom." He dismissed the squad to return to their stations.

Darren started to follow the order, panic fluttering in his chest. End Danny Phantom? He didn't want to be a part of that. Danny Phantom cared about people, wanted to protect humans. He fought the ghosts that were the _real_ menace. Pausing in his walk into the building, Darren glanced over his shoulder to see his superior take off into the sky. _He can't capture Danny Phantom!_ Darren thought, running back down the steps of the building. He wouldn't let this happen! Taylor promised to stop hunting Danny Phantom, agreed to leave the ghost alone. Now he was going back on that promise!

Darren checked the scanner on his wrist. The bleep that indicated the rogue ghost remained in the same location from when they picked it up earlier. His jaw clenched as he realized that the ghosts they tracked recently were probably those victims Danny Phantom mentioned. They were easy to track, most likely he reasoned, because the Guys in White included some kind of tracking element in with the drug. Why would they make ghosts to draw out Danny Phantom if they couldn't be easily tracked? He felt even sicker at that thought.

Darren activated his jetpack and flew after Taylor. Pushing the jetpack toward its limits, he raced at top speed toward the place where the ghost was. He checked the scanner frequently to be sure he was on the right course. The destruction to the apartment building was a sure sign that he was in the right place. He landed inside the apartment and listened. The sounds of fighting came from the other room, and he hurried toward the door.

Darren reached the bedroom in time to see Danny Phantom's friend get thrown into the far wall. Danny Phantom lay motionless on the floor. Darren guessed that he was hit with a paralysis dart that would stop him from be able to use his powers as well as moving. Taylor stepped toward the ghost when another man in the room put himself between the agent and the ghost. He glared fiercely at Taylor, though he looked too beat up already to fight very well against the agent.

"Stop protecting that waste of ectoplasm," Taylor growled, raising a fist, but the man didn't flinch. He stood his ground, surprisingly, when the fist connected with his jaw.

Now his superior was beating up an innocent man for protecting Danny Phantom? Darren couldn't watch it any longer. He pulled out one of his blasters and fired it at Taylor. The agent was knocked over, and the man stared in shock that another agent would attack one of his own.

"Use this on Phantom." Darren reached into his pocket and retrieved a small vial. "It'll reverse the paralysis drug." He tossed the vial at the man, who caught it with quick reflexes. Then Darren's attention snapped back to Taylor. His superior was back on his feet, shaking his head after taking the blow.

"What do you think you're doing, grunt?" Taylor turned on Darren. His sunglasses hung off one ear as he glowered at the other agent.

"Stopping you from making a big mistake." Darren fired the gun again, hitting his superior right in the chest. "Danny Phantom is off limits."

Taylor dodged the next blast. Charging forward, he caught Darren around the waist and slammed him into the wall. Darren gasped as the air squeezed out of his lungs. Darkness crept around the edges of his vision. Taylor was strong! The man pulled back, and before Darren could catch his breath, Taylor punched him in the gut. Darren tried to throw a punch, but Taylor caught his arm. With a hard twist, bone snapped, and Darren screamed at the pain exploding through his arm. Perhaps taking on his superior was a poor decision.

Darren hit the floor, gasping for breath as his right arm dangled uselessly at his side. Taylor stood over him, his glare looking more dangerous than the one he recalled on Danny Phantom's face. Fear curled inside of him. Would Taylor kill him to silence him, to keep him from standing in his way of capturing Danny Phantom?

Glowing green chains wrapped around Taylor, pinning his arms to his side. Electricity danced over the chains, and a strangled shout tore out of Taylor. After several moments, it stopped. Taylor keeled over. Darren managed to scramble out of the way before he was crushed under the man's weight. When he glanced over, he saw Danny Phantom leaning on the man. The chains faded from sight. Behind them, the black clothed man sat up, yanking off his helmet. Darren gawked when he recognized the blond man he met only hours ago.

"I hope one of you has cuffs on you," Danny Phantom said tiredly. The antidote that Darren gave the man reversed the paralysis effect, but it wasn't instantaneous. The ghost could move and use his powers, but it was limited. While the man helped Danny Phantom over to the bed to sit, the blond man walked over to Taylor. He held a pair of handcuffs, and when he crouched down, he cuffed Taylor's arms behind his back.

"What about you?" the blond man demanded when he stood again. He glared at Darren, using his superior height and build to loom over the agent. Anger burned in his blue eyes.

"Here to help!" Darren explained quickly, raising his uninjured arm defensively. "I didn't know they were doing things like this just to capture Danny Phantom." He sighed miserably. "I never realized how messed up this organization was until now."

The blond man turned toward the ghost. "What do you think? He's one of them."

Danny Phantom struggled to his feet and stumbled when he approached them. The two men reacted quickly to help keep him stable. Once he stood in front of Darren, he reached up and removed the sunglasses from Darren's face. Another flash of anger passed through blue eyes, but Danny Phantom held out an arm to stop the blond man from reacting. "You're an agent for the Guys in White. What was your real reason for spending time with the man known as Daniel Fenton?" Confusion and betrayal warred in those green eyes.

Darren frowned, dropping his gaze. "In all honesty, my original intent was to discover his connection to you," he admitted, wincing at the continued pain in his broken arm. "When I came across him in the park, the mark showed up indicating that he had contact with you at some point. I thought if I met with him, I could learn more about you."

"You got close to him to capture me." Anger joined the other emotions in the ghost's eyes.

"No!" Darren shouted quickly. "Not immediately. I wanted to see if you were really the threat the Guys in White described you being. I wasn't entirely convinced, especially after you seemed to want to protect Danny in the park. If you really were protecting people, then there really was no point in capturing you. And," he rubbed the back of his neck with his good hand, "when I started hanging out with him, I started to like Danny. I only recently got transferred here, and I didn't really have friends. Hanging out with Danny, I was happy again, which is why I never asked him about you. I had fun checking out the haunted houses in town and meeting ghosts. It was fun getting to actually speak to one and get to know it. I know not all ghosts are friendly, but clearly they aren't all hostile either. And I began to doubt the organization even more when I was with him. Then you say all that stuff about hurting people to get to you and Taylor goes back on his word." Darren ground his teeth, clenching his good hand into a fist. "The Guys in White are wrong. If they're hurting innocent people, then they've been corrupted. They put an innocent man at risk," he gestured at the dark haired man, "when they released that ghost to lure you out. I'm not working for that organization anymore. Not if this is the way they do things."

"How do we know we can trust you?" the blond man demanded, folding his arms. He didn't look convinced by Darren's speech as the angry glare remained on his face.

"Because he helped us," Danny Phantom told him then turned back to Darren. "Do you think you can get in and get all the information they have about the drug they used? I want all the evidence you can get to ensure this man is put away for a good long time."

Darren gave a curt nod. "Yeah, I can get into almost any files within their database." He gave a shy smirk. "I'm pretty good at hacking."

"Good." Danny Phantom looked over all the men present. "Dash, take this guy," he pointed to Taylor, "to the police precinct and throw him in a holding cell. I'll take Kwan and Darren to the hospital."

Dash lifted Taylor and dragged him out the door of the bedroom. After that shock from Danny Phantom, Darren doubted the hulking man would wake up anytime soon.

"How do you know my name?" Darren's brow furrowed. He was certain he didn't mention it to any of them but Dash.

"I'm friends with Danny, remember?" Danny Phantom offered a crooked smile, like there was something in that question that Darren missed. "He may have mentioned you. But maybe next time you see him, you should tell him about all this."

Darren nodded his agreement. Danny Phantom checked on Kwan, who seemed a little more woozy now that all the action was finished. The adrenaline fueling him to keep fighting, to keep standing, was leaving him. The ghost held him up with one arm thrown around his shoulders. Then he grabbed Darren's left arm and secured it around his waist.

"Hang on tight," Danny Phantom told them. Then he turned them all intangible and flew out of the apartment.

Darren might have been a little more amazed with the whole flying thing if he didn't have a jetpack. He could have used that to fly to the hospital alongside Danny Phantom, but he decided to let the ghost take command. Trying to control his flight didn't sound wise when his head was aching after hitting it against the wall. As soon as they reached the hospital, doctors appeared to tend to their injuries. Darren didn't see Danny Phantom after he was released with a cast around his right arm.


	29. Epilogue

"The last of the victims woke up earlier today," announced Tiffany Snow, smiling happily behind the news anchor's desk. "With the overwhelming evidence against them and several lawsuits being brought up against them, the Guys in White have been shut down for good. The mayor released a statement earlier that anyone operating under the name of the Guys in White within Amity Park will be arrested. At the press conference, he awarded a medal of heroism to the ghost known as Danny Phantom who aided police in uncovering the supplier of the drug that sent several people into comas and helped gather evidence against the Guys in White. A new division under the police is being organized to help-"

The television shut off suddenly, interrupting the news program. Danny tilted his head over the back of the couch to stare at Dash who stood behind him with the remote in his hand. "We were going out tonight, remember?" A grin curved over his face as he leaned down until their faces were inches apart. "Or did you prefer to stay in?"

"Well, that does sound nice," Danny answered, his mind supplying him with plenty of ideas for what they could do if they stayed in the apartment. "But we were going to take it slow, right? I was just waiting for you to be ready. Gee, what are you, a girl? You were in there for an hour!"

"And here I thought you would want me to look good." Dash stood up straight, looking partially offended by Danny's comment.

Danny rolled his eyes as he climbed to his feet. "Please, Dash. You look good no matter what." It was frustratingly true. Sometimes, Danny felt insanely jealous by the fact that Dash could pretty much roll out of bed and look completely amazing. "Anyway, we're going to be late now since you had to take forever." He grabbed his jacket that he threw over the arm of the chair when Dash disappeared into his bedroom to get ready.

"Is working undercover really your idea of a good date?" With a frown, Dash held the door open for Danny. He took a moment to admire Danny's rear as he passed through the door. He made a mental note to get Danny to wear tight pants like those more often.

"I've done the clubs thing before, and it can be really annoying alone." Danny shuddered, remembering the last time he was at a club. "If you're there, at least I'll have someone to rescue me when someone can't take no for an answer." He caught the anger in Dash's eyes and the way his lips pursed at the thought of someone harassing Danny at the club. "Don't worry." He patted Dash on the shoulder. "I'm sure this will be a quick in and out job. We just have to identify the ring leader. After that, we can leave and start our real date."

"What if something ghost related comes up?" Dash took hold of Danny's hand as they headed down the stairs.

"Darren has it handled. He'll give us a call if something serious comes up." Danny still couldn't believe how things went after the downfall of the Guys in White only weeks ago.

With the Guys in White gone, the mayor realized the necessity for a new, reliable division to keep the town safe from hostile ghost attacks. Though he was still fairly young, Darren was nominated to help spearhead the project. Danny Phantom was an honorary member, and with the communications unit that he kept with him at all times, Danny would know whenever his help was needed. With the ghost hunter equipment that Vlad gave them, Dash and Kwan were asked to be members of the division as well. Neither of them wanted to fully give up their real jobs, so they became honorary members as well, only called on when necessary. But Danny still liked bringing Dash along whenever he went on patrol. All in all, life was looking pretty good to the half ghost.

"So I hear your friends are supposed to be back in town next week." Dash frowned when he felt Danny tighten his hold on his hand. He sighed and stopped him in front of his car. "They're your friends. They'll forgive you for everything as long as you explain it to them. They wouldn't be coming back here for they didn't want to talk to you."

"It's just been so long." Danny was unable to push away the nervousness he felt when he thought of talking to Tucker and Sam again. He knew Dash was right, but it didn't seem to comfort him. With a sigh, he leaned his head forward to press against Dash's chest. "And I still haven't told them that we started dating. They're going to freak out over that." _Especially Sam_ , he thought with a mental cringe. Their relationship ended with a big blowout, but before meeting up with Dash again, Danny always thought maybe one day they might reunite and start a relationship again. He wondered if Sam had similar thoughts.

Dash placed his hands on the sides of Danny's head and tilted it up enough that he could kiss the half ghost on his forehead. "They'll accept you. If they can accept that you're half ghost, they can accept that you're bi."

"Yeah, after a lot of yelling, maybe," Danny grumbled, fighting off the light blush that tinged his cheeks after the kiss. "And stop with the sappy stuff. It's weird." Because Dash being all romantic toward him was still a strange concept to accept even though they were a couple of weeks into dating.

Dash rolled his eyes as he opened the door to his car. "You should have expected it." He held the door open as Danny climbed into the passenger's seat. "After all, I do love my sappy romance dramas." Grinning widely, he leaned down to steal a kiss from Danny, who suffered a warm feeling inside as he returned the kiss. Yup. Dash was a big romantic idiot, but maybe Danny liked him like that.


	30. Afterward

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dan reflects on things after leaving Kwan at the hands of the ghost and Danny to be the big hero.

It almost seemed like a lifetime ago when his friends and family were killed in the explosion of the Nasty Burger. He could still recall the pain and suffering he felt back then, mixed with the loneliness and misery that Vlad felt, made worse after Maddie was taken in an even crueler fashion from him. Up until recently, he was content to believe that he tossed away his humanity, removed himself from feeling those harmful emotions that humans experienced. But laying around in Clockwork's tower awaiting some new errand to be sent on by that annoying taskmaster, Dan had nothing to do but think. It didn't take him long to realize the truth in Kwan's comments, still surprised by the man's insightful analysis of him. He knew Kwan was smart, but he didn't think the man possessed that same hitting the nail on the head psychoanalyzing thing that Jazz used to have. He guessed Jazz still had that, in this time, having not died in that explosion here.

Dan was not devoid of human emotions like he once believed. He felt things. He enjoyed destruction and kicking ghost ass. He got frustrated when things didn't go as he planned. He was annoyed when Kwan seemed to hit just the right button with his analyzing. He felt alone when he was left with nothing to do and trapped in the tower. But under the surface, he was a terrible mess of pain. He lashed out in rage, destroying everything and acting without remorse when he killed. He could still remember when the new him was born, a pure ghost being made up of Danny Phantom and Vlad Plasmius. That terrified expression on his human half's face as he towered over the mortal remained vividly in his mind. Clenching a fist in front of him, Dan could recall the feel of killing his human half, brutally without holding back in vicious rage.

Dan closed his eyes as he shook his head. That was a memory he often tried not to think about but could never forget. He thought he felt nothing in taking that life, but when it sneaked into his mind, there was that wash of pain and regret that made him go on another terror, destroying whatever was left of the world. The feelings inside him, buried under the surface, simply hurt too much to touch. He never learned how to deal with them. His human half couldn't deal with the loss of his friends and family. Why would he think his ghost half could fare any better with them? The jumble of twisted agony was simply too much, and throwing it away to pretend he felt nothing was so much easier. He claimed that he had no humanity left inside him because it was better than admitting that he was a horrible mess that couldn't pick up the pieces of his shattered world. Danny and Vlad's pain of that time remained in existence because he still lived even though that timeline was erased. Dan gritted his teeth thinking of Danny and Vlad living happily in this time while he still suffered so much pain.

"Still moping in the shadows?" Clockwork appeared in the door to the room where Dan usually hid when he had nothing to do.

"What, you have another threat to the timeline that I need to take out?" Dan sat up, glaring in annoyance at the Time Keeper, who smirked under the hood of his purple cloak. He grew to hate that smirk over the many years under Clockwork's employ. That smirk followed after him with his every action, like Clockwork knew something that Dan didn't. Which of course, was always true because Clockwork always knew everything. It was a fact that drove Dan crazy while being in the Time Keeper's presence.

"Not this time." Clockwork floated farther into the room, shifting between his forms as usual. In his old man form, he leaned on his time staff, his white beard hanging down to practically his navel, if he had one while he had a wispy tail instead of legs. "You could go back."

Dan stared at the Time Keeper then snorted scornfully as he turned his head away. "Go back to what? My timeline was erased. Remember? You had a hand in that. And why would I want to go back if I could anyway? There's nothing for me there."

Clockwork chuckled as he shifted into his infant form. "I wasn't talking about your time." He grinned widely, showing off those ridiculous bucked teeth. "I meant back to him."

Dan sat up a little straighter as he leveled a flat glare at the Time Keeper, wondering if this was some amusing joke Clockwork wanted to play on him. "I'm not worth it."

Clockwork shook his head with a sigh. "He knows you were evil, yet even he thought you could be redeemed."

Dan frowned remembering that part of their last conversation before he left Kwan. When asked to stay, Dan said he was no hero, but Kwan only answered with that he was once. "I haven't been a hero since I was fourteen." Dan climbed to his feet, ready to toss the Time Keeper out of his room, but the time staff slammed down sharply on his head. Dropping into a crouch, Dan growled curses through clenched teeth as he held onto his head, throbbing with pain.

"You're an idiot, Dan." Clockwork sighed tiredly. "Do you really believe that I've been sending you on these errands purely for my own amusement?"

"Yes," Dan hissed, massaging his aching head. He glared up at Clockwork, wishing the stupid Time Keeper would leave him alone already.

"Well, there was some amusement in it." Clockwork smirked as he turned into a young man. "And it was necessary for those threats to be eliminated so that time didn't get fouled up. And it's true that young Daniel could have been called in to deal with some of them. But," Clockwork bent down to be at eye level with the crouching Dan, "it was necessary for _your_ growth to experience certain encounters. What do you think fighting those threats made you, Dan? You may still sit here thinking yourself the greatest evil of all time, and in one case you were, but you're not that same ghost anymore. Even that young man could see there was still a glimmer of goodness in you. You can become a hero again, if you choose it."

With a snort, Dan rested his chin in his hand, balancing an elbow on his knee as he turned his glare away from Clockwork. "And why would I ever choose to be a hero again?"

Clockwork rolled his red eyes. "Must we go through with this? I know all, remember? I know you've developed feelings for him, even if you're being too stupid to admit it."

"Why must you always talk in circles? Can't you just say what you want without all this beating around the bush?" Dan grumped, refusing to even look at the Time Keeper.

Clockwork took a breath and exhaled heavily. "Really, Dan, I thought you could figure this out without me having to spell it out for you." He picked up his time staff, and Dan tried not to flinch expecting another whack to the head. The reaction got an amused chuckle out of Clockwork as he swung the staff around, opening a portal into the real world. "I was suggesting that you go to him."

Dan narrowed his eyes, wary of Clockwork's motives. "Doesn't that break the whole me being your responsibility thing?"

"You'll still be under my command, and you'll have to continue running errands for me." Clockwork smirked at Dan's scowl. "But that doesn't mean you have to be trapped here for all eternity."

"Free pass to the real world anytime I want?" Dan stood, folding his arms as he continued to glare uncertainly at the Time Keeper.

"Just go before I change my mind and let the two of you be miserable for the rest of his mortal life." Clockwork shoved Dan through the portal without another word.

Dan stumbled as he passed through the portal. Righting himself, he glared back at Clockwork, but the portal was already gone. Just what he needed: Clockwork butting into his private life. Not that he really had much of a private life. How could he have a private life while trapped within Clockwork's tower? Folding his arms, he frowned as he looked around at his surroundings. He wouldn't have guessed who the bedroom belonged to, not recognizing the pale gray walls without a single thing upon them. It was a small bedroom with only a bed and a dresser pushed against the wall next to a closet.

When he heard the door opening, Dan quickly turned invisible as the person stepped into the bedroom. _Clockwork, you bastard_ , Dan thought after his gaze landed on man with only a towel about his waist as he scrubbed at his raven locks with another towel. He was well muscled under his bronze skin that still dripped with water after stepping out of the shower. Even for a techno science geek, it wasn't surprising that the man still kept in great shape from his high school days playing football. Dan wouldn't be surprised if he spent hours in the gym weight training with Dash and taking jogs around town. But of course, Clockwork would bother Dan at the exact right moment to thrust him into the man's bedroom seconds before he stepped in looking all tempting with drops of water slipping over smooth flesh that drew Dan's gaze down his chest and abdomen to the hair peeking out from under the towel loosely tied about his waist.

With a wicked smirk, Dan crept closer to the man, waiting for him to drape the towel around his neck. Then he leaned in close, almost letting his mouth brush over the curves of the man's ear before he blew into it. The man gave a startled shout as he jumped, backing up until he banged into the dresser.

"Ow! Damn it, Dan!" he shouted as he rubbed at his elbow and frowned at the empty room. Dan bit his tongue, trying not to snicker loudly and remaining invisible. Aqua green eyes flitted around the room, taking in the fact that he was alone. A stricken look hit him, and he gulped. "Uh, that was you, right, Dan?" Hope flashed in his eyes as he tried to find the invisible being.

"You always make the most amusing faces!" Dan laughed boisterously as he became visible to the man. He grinned widely, watching as the man tried to contain his emotions at seeing the ghost again after the several months that passed since he vanished out of the apartment. With a quick glance around, Dan lifted an eyebrow at him. "This place is new."

"Yeah, well, I had to find a new place after the old apartment got destroyed when you left to allow that dick to attack me," the man grumbled, narrowing his eyes.

"That wasn't my fault, Kwan." Dan frowned, seeing the hurt that passed in those aqua green eyes. "I had orders to follow. Danny had to be the one to come in and take out the ghost."

"You could have suppressed your energy to hide your presence and kept close to me," Kwan argued, folding his arms over his chest as he leaned against the dresser. "I know you know how to do that. You still could have let Danny be the hero without abandoning me."

"Clockwork ordered me to take my leave the moment you figured out why the drug was putting those people in a coma. And," Dan shrugged, "I still had a few more of those fake ghosts to catch so that we could wake them up."

Kwan frowned, almost pouted at that answer. "So Clockwork snaps his fingers and you have to go running to him like a lapdog to fulfill his every command."

"It's not like I want to," Dan growled, hands curling at his sides in frustration. "It's part of the whole deal that allowed me to be free of that wretched Thermos. He's responsible for my existence since he allowed me to exist outside of time. He could wipe me out in a heartbeat with the way he controls time if I do something he doesn't like."

Kwan dropped his gaze, his expression unreadable. "So Clockwork always comes first."

Dan's brow rose as he stared at the man. "Wait. Wait!" He crossed over to the man and took Kwan's face in his hands, tilting it up so that he could stare into those distant, pained aqua green eyes. "You're not thinking that there's something between Clockwork and me, are you?" He squinted as he searched Kwan's eyes for an answer. All he got was a stunned look as a soft blush colored Kwan's cheeks. Dan laughed. "And I thought you were supposed to be Mr. Genius."

"You left," Kwan pointed out, frowning dryly at the ghost. "I was attacked by a ghost bent on killing me simply because I moved here and became friends with Dash and somehow that completely screwed over his life. My apartment got trashed, forcing me to move back in with my parents for three weeks until I could find a new apartment. Plus I had to buy new furniture. Meanwhile, you're off playing this Clockwork person's bitch. What else am I supposed to think when you just leave?" He turned his gaze away. "I didn't think you cared. You were only hanging around me because _Clockwork_ ordered you to."

Dan felt the serious urge to shake the man until some sense rattled into that empty head of his. "Sometimes, you're really thick." He flicked Kwan on the forehead, making the man wince. "I only didn't come back because I didn't think it was allowed. Usually I'm forced to stay inside his tower unless he has some job for me to do." He sighed at the lingering miserable expression on Kwan's face. "What happened to that ass that wanted to kill you? Do I need to go terrorize the shit face?"

"He got gunned down by a rival gang about a week after he woke from the coma," Kwan explained, moving away from Dan to get some clean clothes. "Why are you even here? Clockwork has no reason to have you watching over me again."

Dan grabbed hold of Kwan's arms and yanked him until his back was flush against Dan's chest. "Maybe because I wanted to see you," he murmured against Kwan's ear, not missing the way he tensed up or that sharp intake of air. "I'm not good with the whole feelings things, and I'm a total mess inside."

"Everyone's a mess inside," Kwan mumbled with a breathy, nervous laugh. "You think I'm not without my own mental and emotional scars? I was pretty much a lifeless doll until I met Dash. Being the new kid wasn't easy, and I got picked on a lot. It was easier to just shut down emotionally and not fight back. Then Dash stepped in and befriended me, and it was like suddenly it was okay to feel again."

"I never knew that about you." Dan blinked in surprise at that confession. The Kwan he remembered from high school always looked so cheerful, like he never had a care in the world. He was almost jealous of that, but now he realized that Kwan only got to be that way because of Dash. "So I guess we both have issues to work out."

Kwan turned around to face Dan. "So," he said slowly, not meeting the ghost's red eyes, "what are we doing?"

Dan smirked devilishly as he hooked a finger around the top of the man's towel, tugging him a step closer. "Starting something," he suggested and leaned in close. "If you want."

Kwan tilted his head to the side, pursing his lips in thought. He took his time, like it was a huge internal debate that needed several hours, if not weeks, to think over while Dan started to feel like he mistook every signal with a terrible sinking sensation. "Now who's the one being thick?" he asked with a smirk after catching the fall of Dan's wicked grin. "I've strangely missed your incessant chatter during the night. After you left, I laid awake at night unable to fall asleep because you weren't there talking mindlessly. How the hell did you do that to me?"

"Maybe you just missed getting to stare at my ass when you were supposed to be working."

The grin returned to Dan's face as Kwan blushed darkly because they both knew that he did just that from time to time when Dan was guarding him. While Kwan remained silent, his face impossibly bright red, Dan closed the gap between them to steal a kiss. Kwan leaned into it, arms wrapping around the ghost's neck. Dan smiled, not grinned, not smirked, but truly smiled, hardly believing that he was kissing someone, let alone Kwan. It wasn't like he was a virgin, but in his exploits, he never shared a kiss on the lips.

Then Kwan laughed, and Dan jerked out of the kiss, baffled by that reaction. Kwan shook his head as he calmed his laughter. "No, I was just thinking," he said, managing not to grin, "Dash ended up with the good version of Danny Phantom, and I ended up with the evil version."

"You got the better version." Dan puffed his chest out proudly.

Kwan rolled his eyes, but he grinned at the ghost. "I guess I'm just a sucker for the badass bad boys." Then he pulled Dan in close for another kiss, and Dan thought he could definitely get used to that.


End file.
